Fake News

Social Media Manipulation
Your Name
Department of ABC, University – Whitewater
ABC 101: Course Name
Professor (or Dr.) Firstname Lastname
Date
Social Media Manipulation
Fake news is tough to detect if its information aligns with currently held beliefs or worldviews or is otherwise called confirmation bias. When there is a confirmation bias within a sensational or viral headline, most people are susceptible to consuming disinformation and presuming it is the truth. I first heard of fake news on TV. With time, I have understood some basic tricks to detect disinformation on social media. As a result, I may have shared fake news before, significantly when I couldn’t differentiate between fake and real. In other words, I had shared fake news before but didn’t know it was.
Today, I try to fact-check fake news, especially when the given piece of information appears sensational or deliberately aimed at getting my attention. In essence, my first doubt about news is when it is viral, shared across platforms, and almost everyone talks about it. If I can’t dismiss an article based on virality, the next step is to check the URL link of the website. If the link mimics a major news agency, that is the second d red flag. However, their thousands, if not millions, of legitimate websites that I have never interacted with. In this case, the next step is to find corroborative information. I understand that if sensational news is true, it must appear on major and renowned websites like CNN and BBC. If I cannot find the news on these websites, that is a red flag as well. Finally, I use a fact-checking website to establi...