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Digital Literacy: Want to Learn More?

Fact Check

Check for hoaxes on these fact-checking websites:

Activity:  Read this headline and fact-check above using Snopes.

  • Reece's Peanut Butter Cups to be Discontinued

Do you believe this headline? Is it true? Did you see this in your social media feed?

 

Manufacturers of False News

View these videos and read the articles to see how a person can create fake news, and earn money, too!

Questions for discussion:

  • How much money can a creator of fake news earn per month? 
  • Find an example of how a fake news story in one of the articles above reached the level of state politics. 
  • How much responsibility lies with the reader? 
  • How can readers protect themselves and refrain from spreading false stories?

Additional Tools to Analyze Information

Analyzing Photographs

Find out how online photos can be taken out of context, photoshopped, or combined with text to trick readers.  Photos tend to persuade readers that a story may be true  . . . and a picture is worth a thousand words. 

Step One: Read How Photos Fuel Fake News

Step Two: Read about how to tell if a photo on the web is original, or if it's been published on many websites, or if it's been turned into a meme.  

Step Three: Try a Reverse Image Search. Use one of the searches below to find out where an image resides on the web.  Click here to view the image. 

Questions to discuss:

  • Is this picture real? 
  • Does it exist on reliable websites? 
  • What is the explanation for the picture? 
  • Can you find examples of this photo being manipulated, changed, or turned into a meme?

Read about other uses for Reverse Image Searching:

 

Is It Shareworthy?