Hisham Sarwar
After Donald Trump has been declared the winner of the presidency, there is still an option that can send Hillary Clinton to the White House in 2017 as the new president. People are upset because of Trump’s election and therefore have floated an option that could deny him the White House. American protests have taken the streets by storm and have successfully forced the authorities to stop Trump from becoming the president.
But unfortunately that’s not something that actually happened; there is no ambiguity in Trump taking over the president’s seat. He has been elected and will make it to the Oval Office soon but the point in this article has been served if you have clicked or even shared it.
Rumors and misinformation have circulated the social media sites in the wake of the elections. Regarded as a quick way to learn about breaking news, these sites are flooded with updates on the election campaigns and results. But not all the information is correct; some of the misleading and false content also acquired a place on the websites. These updates kept appearing all along the election season and have now been debunked by various sources.
This happened because people clicked and shared a lot of the posts because of the enticing headlines. They never bothered to read the complete article but wanted to be the first one to share something unique on their page. Oddly enough, these are the actual people who were the basic target of such false news. These websites served best to the people who were looking for such news in order to spread it forward without claiming for its accuracy. This is something that has jolted the foundations of a functional society. The scariest thing is that this ritual of clicking and sharing news without digging in for details has sent in a wave of misinformation in the society.
This problem can be overcome if we make ourselves responsible enough. For the news present on social media, these five steps will make you assess the authenticity of the news in no time.
Read and then share:
It is always better to read the content before sharing it to others. Do not comment or click “share” on the basis of its headline.
Check the source:
Internet is a source of all information in this era but it does not guarantee for authenticity of whatever is present. Along with accurate information a lot of false content is also present. Articles that post figures, facts, or quotes must have a source linked to that information, if you don’t find anything such then it is better to ignore it.
Stay vigilant about recycled stories:
A big source of misinformation to the public is the collection of stories that are presented as happening currently. Be watchful for the date of the story presented, you will be surprised to know that most of the facts present in the story will no longer be applicable to your current situations.
Avoid the blatant slanted sites:
Avoid the websites where ideas are taken as unbiased facts. These stories fail to present the real picture by keeping you in a delusion. Websites with articles presenting the words such as Democrat, Liberal, conservative, Republican, etc. advertise how slanted they are. It is better to stay away from these as your mind will remain in disbelief after reading.
Google the information:
Google is a good source not only for getting information but also for checking for the authenticity. You can check for the facts that are presented in the articles and then make up your mind for sharing it.
The spread and potential for reporting misinformation is a genuine concern as false information spreads like the accurate one. These are high-profile mistakes that are caused by social media information. It is time to understand how false information spreads online and focus on the techniques that are helpful in dealing with it.
