Fake News vs. Real News: How to Tell the Difference in a World of Endless Information
Fake News vs. Real News: How to Tell the Difference in a World of Endless Information
Kaitlyn Fuller
Have you ever argued with a friend over something you saw online? A headline, a post, or a quick fact; only to find out that later it wasn’t accurate? Moments like these are becoming more common as social media floods the public with information that mixes real reporting with personal opinion and misinformation. In a time when social media posts travel faster than ever, telling the difference between credible journalism and biased or false content isn’t always easy. So how can readers know what sources they can trust?
Most people go on their phone at the end of the day, including even the most disciplined. No matter if it’s TikTok, Instagram, or X (formerly known as twitter); it’s inevitable to be lured into a rabbit hole of differential opinions. The bewildering effects from being fed bona-fide news with no bias, to a whiplash of confusing thoughts provokes strong emotions from you.
But what is the psychology behind this? According to the American Psychological Association, psychology plays an extensive role in why people launch onto misinformation so easily. Research shows that individuals are more likely to trust false claims when those messages portray antagonistic groups negatively or contain coexisting biases. Emotional reactions are especially influential; misinformation that triggers feelings such as fear or outrage can make the reader more susceptible to believing misleading claims as true. The luring content given by social media algorithms, combined with social dynamics like community and repetition, can strengthen beliefs in false information and allow it to spread more easily among readers.
Different perceptions of how news is presented to the average person is undeniably controlled by strong emotions and tampered information, but what if the information actually isn’t real at all? Artificial Intelligence (most commonly known as AI) has become an everyday part of human lives. Almost anybody who has used social media has fallen for AI, even if it's simply a short video or a photo that seems too real to be made up. More people are becoming aware of this sudden high volume of clickbait and even coined a term for it which is called AI slop, it’s defined by lacking creativity, effort, and meaning just for the sake of money. False images and videos are generated with the purpose to grab your attention and others to accumulate hundreds or thousands of views.
How do we prevent ourselves from believing this misinformation so easily? According to Media Literacy Now, Media Literacy is the ability to assess, analyze, and evaluate information and how it influences our thoughts, feelings, behaviors, and perceptions on our society; and use and create media to provide information or send a message in a way that’s thoughtful, safe, and responsible. It’s important to be aware of your emotions and pause to think critically. If you see a post that enrages you to the point of sharing it to others, it’s necessary to double check the content and take a moment to evaluate the message's intent and reliability. Recognizing AI disinformation means fact checking sources and checking if the content visually looks right, does the subject have 11 fingers or is their anatomy unrealistic and abnormal?
It’s unavoidable to encounter false content that’s heavily biased or just fake but how you process that information is important. Media Literacy is crucial especially when social media is becoming more influential and a more efficient way to receive information. AI will only become more common and better as time passes, avoiding this fact won’t do anything, but taking the effort to better understand what content you're consuming is what should matter. Remind yourself to take everything with a grain of salt.