How do you distinguish fact from fiction?

General
1

In a world flooded with information, we are all being challenged to think critically about the information we consume and to seek out credible, verified sources.
How do you personally navigate the flood of information on social media to distinguish fact from fiction? Have you ever found yourself or someone you know falling for an online conspiracy theory? And what can we do, as a community, to encourage responsible information sharing? Let’s open up this conversation.

2

Questions I ask myself:

  • is this source one that’s known to me, that I have used before, and have come to trust?
  • is this a source that I know posts junk just to collect page impressions?
  • is the headline / title clickbait, or is it at least tending towards neutral (i.e. not emotive)?
  • do I have sufficient background on whatever subject to be able to tell truth from bullsh*t? If not, ignore it.
  • is this post riding on the scandal-of-the-day?
3 Likes