NHsmc Blog Post 1

Social Media vs. Viral Hoax

The internet is a blackhole full of information, content and people that create a culture within our society. Internet hoaxes have become a common theme within all aspects of social platforms. Why? There are many theories. My own personal theory aligns with what most people would first think of; to gain attention and have a […]

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The Fake News Epidemic

Ever since the 2016 election, the fake news epidemic has taken the world by storm. Although Facebook has been aware of their fake news problem for quite sometime, they still fail to rid their site from this false journalism. Fake news is still very prominent on Facebook, and numerous believe it is here to stay. […]

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My mom shared a Russian bot’s meme?

Did she really? That’s the tricky thing: I can’t tell, sometimes. As Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) said near the beginning of the Sept. 5, 2018 intelligence hearing regarding Facebook, there’s much ambiguity and obscurity related to content on Facebook that, “changes minds and hardens opinions.” And you can’t immediately tell where some memes, videos, photos, […]

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Authenticity: Is it Achievable on Facebook?

When going on Facebook, there is no doubt that your newsfeed will be ridden with a variety of different articles. The big question is: what is the truth? When I look at Facebook articles, I usually look at the sources. Washington Post, The New York Times, Business Insider, and other reputable news sources always get a further glance from me. On the contrary, if the article doesn’t show me any reputable sources then I don’t continue looking at it.

My search continues to check if the link is actually authentic instead of a proxy site that has the same name but is not the actual publication. If I check the link and it isn’t a normal link from the publication and write it off as fake news. International news is a bit more difficult, but I usually stick with sites that end in .org. What’s bad is that not many people take as much care to make sure that their news is real because Facebook is the land of contrived authenticity.

People use Facebook to create a perception of their life that they’d like others to think they have rather than the life they do have. If that contrived authenticity is used in their personal life and people don’t notice the farce about their own friends, then how can people distinguish real news from fake news? It’s hard to distinguish actual news from fake news as a voracious consumer myself. So, what about people who solely get their news from Facebook?

Hopefully this fake news phenomenon will slowly ween it’s way off Facebook and away from the susceptible public. To stop the fake news there has to be more reality on a platform whose biggest takeaway is that you can be whoever you want even if that person isn’t you at all. Read more about Facebook’s problem with authenticity here: https://www.businessinsider.com/how-facebook-is-killing-your-authenticity-2011-3

 

 

 

 

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Real or Fake News?

For me, I use a combination of my own judgement and Facebook’s own verification services, in order to decipher whether the page feeding me information is trustworthy or not. This isn’t an uncommon thought process for to go through, as, almost daily, I find my Facebook newsfeed cluttered with “Breaking News” that seems ridiculous. I’ve […]

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Clean Up on Aisle Facebook

When I was 13 years old, I created a Facebook account with the simple goal of connecting with friends and posting horrific selfies.  Since then, I have been on and off with my usage of the social networking site, and needless to say, a lot has changed since I first created my account.  While on […]

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“Fakebook” or Facebook? Let The Media Consumers Decipher.

When Facebook was founded in 2004, the platform’s popularity continued to increase amongst various generations. It was a place to rekindle, share content, invite others to social events, and connect with friends and family across the world. Now, 2018, fourteen years later, Facebook has become an effective news participant and influencer of political expression. Despite […]

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Facebook or Fakebook?

Recently Facebook has come under fire for the continuos fake news that circulates their platform. The COO of Facebook, Sheryl Sandberg, was questioned by the US Senate about the problems that fake news on Facebook has caused and how they are going to address it. She can be seen talking about what Facebook is doing in an attempt to combat fake news below:

But with all of this misinformation online this leads us to another question, how can we tell what news is authentic?

While some people choose to handle it with a comedic approach

 

There are real steps you can take to determine what is fake news and what is real.

First off, checking where the information is coming from. Facebook verifies big users with a blue checkmark next to their name, confirming that they are the real person. Public figures vary from politicians such as Hilary Clinton to social media influencers such has Youtube star Liza Koshy. Information from verified users heighten the likely hood that the news is true.

Another way to differentiate between fake news and real news is titles of articles. Webwise cautions people about titles that fall into the category of “clickbait”. Referring to outrages titles that are just used to get more clicks and views on their perspective websites. Most of these articles are fake news, and is just used as a tactic to get people to click on the link.

And lastly, in the era of fake news, cross checking information with other sources is key. If something seems off double check it against credible news sources. Because no one is safe from falling victim to fake news, not even you.

 

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