Finding the Truth in Social Media

Andrew Sudnick
as628713@ohio.edu

In this day and age, social media is the primary source of news and information for most people. It provides the public with quick intelligence about their surrounding world. With the click of a screen, you are immediately submersed with everything to do about anything. Social media has become essential for breaking stories and news updates.

However, there always seems to be the lingering problem of telling the good apples from the bad. Social media does so much for us when it comes to news gathering, but it can also prove very unreliable at times. I'm sure that every single social media user has ran into the problem of stumbling upon a fake news post.

Source: socialveo.com

I myself believed that Bill Nye, the Science guy, passed away a couple years back. I was struck with awe, that man basically taught me Science. To my disbelief, he just came out with a new Netflix series. This further proves the point that social media can be deceptive and inaccurate.

So the main question becomes: how do we find the truth in social media?

Methods for finding the truth

From a journalism standpoint, you have to make sure that the news you are amplifying or covering is accurate. I think we should use three tools to help us uncover the truth.

1. Being skeptical of everything. Assuming that all news is fake news may sound pessimistic, but I think it is important to keep your guard up as high as possible. Any source can produce news that is not accurate. When it comes to social media news, challenge everything you read and hear. Being stubborn on social media will give you a better source reputation, and prevent you from falling victim to fallacious reports.

2. Consider the source. This tool plays a big role in breaking news on social media. You may hear something very exciting and want to believe it immediately, but considering your source can help determine how accurate the social post is. Receiving information from a verified sports journalist, is a lot different than seeing a tweet from some kid in Iowa with 50 followers.

3. Do your research. This is the most effective tool to determine if you discovered real or fake news. Make sure that no matter the topic or source, you are always doing research yourself. The moment you choose to amplify or post about something, it is going to effect your credibility. That is why researching sources, dates, events and witnesses can lead to reporting on true events.

Why finding the truth is important

Going through and being skeptical, considering the source and doing your research, may seem like a lot of extra work. For journalists, we stake our integrity on the things we post. Taking these extra steps is essential for us, because it is our duty to find the truth and inform the public. Kelly McBride and Tom Rosenstiel compare the original set of Guiding Principles of Journalists, to their new and improved set. One value that is consistently held as the highest priority is truth. They argue that a lot of factors play into the ethics of journalism, but discovering the truth is always the most important.

In a world where only 4% of web-using adults have a lot of trust in the news they see on social media, it is important to remember the value of truth and do our best to apply it to our social media coverage.