5 Easy Ways to Spot Fake News on Social Media

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You cannot believe everything you read and see on social media!


Because so many of us think only official, 100% news is shared on Facebook and other social media networks, we need to educate ourselves and those around us to ultimately stop the spread of all this fake news.

So, here’s how to spot fake news on social media – and avoid it.

Amazing headlines

Fake news headlines are often written in capital letters with a lot of exclamation marks. If the headline sounds too good to be true, then it most probably is!

Investigate the source

Make sure the story you are reading is actually true by going to the source and checking the website to learn more.


Format

Read through the news carefully; lookout for spelling errors, bad layouts and grammar mistakes.

URL

Fake news websites often try and pretend to be other legit websites, but they change their URLs slightly – read the URL carefully before you visit the site and click on any links.

Don’t trust the photos

The images that appear with the fake news articles are often wrong and do not match the topic at all.
Be cautious and never, ever believe everything you read on Facebook or any other social media network!



Contact us on 021 110 0422 or email contact@osint.co.za to learn more about fake news, social media scams and so much more. Our OSINT (Open-Source Intelligence) department will do what they can to assist you!

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