With educational social media accounts getting more and more popular every day, you start to wonder how many of them are actually legit. After all, no so-called “fact” shared online can be taken as it is, as we have to remind ourselves that fake news spreads six times faster on social media than facts.
Also known as fake news, these pieces of disinformation can even be used as a political tool and weapon, and poses a real danger to those with an untrained eye. Sometimes, however, the information gets so disseminated that you may not even suspect it's faulty.
So to find out how exactly an average Internet user like us can learn to separate true facts from false information, we previously spoke with Daniel Markuson. Markuson is the cybersecurity expert at NordVPN and he shared some very useful tips and insights. Markuson explained that there is no foolproof method to separate truth from misinformation.
But a general rule of thumb is to check the source’s credibility: “This particularly applies to social media platforms because they are optimized to increase engagement and lack appropriate gatekeeping features that filter out misinformation.”
When it comes to determining if the news source is credible, there are some telling signs to look for. It turns out that, often, unreliable news sources impersonate well-known ones by misspelling their names in the URL. “Similarly, they might use unconventional domain extensions instead of the usual “.com” or “.org.” In general, make sure that your news comes from established, well-known sources. These types of outlets get information directly from primary sources and must uphold their reputation.”
When asked about the reasons why fake news has become so widespread, the cybersecurity expert said that it’s “due to factors that concern both the content of the messages and the technological foundation of platforms on which the news is proliferated.”
“Fake news is usually related to current affairs and makes remarkable, emotion-inducing claims. This, combined with the fact that social media platforms collect data on what kind of posts users spend the most time on and feed them content with similar characteristics, provides the perfect conditions for the spread of misinformation,” Daniel concluded.
