Trust the Blue Badge?

Posted on by Michael Ceribelli

Edgar Allen Poe told us “Believe half of what you see and nothing of what you hear.” When he coined this term it is hard to think he saw a world where images can be altered and people hide their identities behind a computer screen. So, if we are meant to question everything how do we begin to determine what is “authentic” on Facebook.

The easiest answer is to trust accounts with the Blue Badge. These have been deemed by Facebook to be the authentic page of a notable figure. However, this does not certify that all of the information transmitted from this source is correct. One of the few ways to truly verify the information you are receiving is by crowdsourcing your news. By reviewing a number of news sites on both sides of the political aisle you have the best chance of finding some truth in a story as it allows you to eliminate bias to the best of your ability. It is then up to users to be skeptical of everything they read and come to their own conclusions about what aspects of the story are real or fake.

While this may not be perfect, neither is the content moderation technology we have in place. So until it begins to outpace the technology of trolls both within our borders and abroad we must do everything we can to make sure the information we choose to accept is as close to the truth as possible.

 

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