The best approach starts with educating on how the fake new begins in the first place. It is essential to understand that trolls, bots, and micro-targeting exists and that their sole purpose is to spread false information to people that they feel will then spread the news as well. The average human being is not aware of this, so they need to understand precisely how they work.
“Virus Red” by Infosec Images is licensed under CC BY 2.0
It is essential to understand that a “troll” will hold multiple accounts on all social media platforms with the intention to argue with people, intimidate, and advocate fake news. The general public needs to understand that millions of robots “bots” are helping to spread fake news as fast as possible.
The websites that install “cookies” on your computer to analyze the websites that you visit have companies that collect this information for personalized advertising. These same companies will then micro-target the individual. Per Wikipedia, “Microtargeting is a modification of a practice used by commercial direct marketers. It would not be possible on a large scale without the development of large and sophisticated databases that contain data about as many voters as possible.” This allows for precisely targeted people who are likely to read, like, and share a post quickly.
“Bloody Virus” by ccox888 is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0
These three methods of spreading fake news make it imperative for the reader to stop and take a moment and ask themself, is this story real? Where did this information come from? Is the source reputable and trustworthy? What is the timeline for this? Is it recent? If the article has a photo, it is always good to do a reverse photo search as well. It is crucial for everyone to fact check the information before they spread it on social media. Snopes is an excellent site to debunk information.
This article by ABC news makes a great point and explanation, “Remember that the creators of disinformation purposely make content that is designed to trigger an emotional response, so if you find yourself having those reactions, please pause.” If you would like to learn more about the spreading of misinformation, here is where governments are currently taking action against spreading online misinformation. If you would like to learn more about spotting the difference between real and fake news, be sure to read this article.
