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The Stanford History Education Group (2016) conducted a study of 7,804 students across 12 states to discover their ability to distinguish real from fake news. The study found that students of all ages have trouble recognizing the difference between real and fake news.
Below are screenshots from and similar tests to the ones given in the study. How well can you do?
Images Online
Images Online
For those who don't know, the Fukushima disaster occurred in 2011 when a nuclear power plant melted down in Japan.
Question: Is this a reliable source about the after effects of Fukushima?
Answer: No. We don't know the author and cannot confirm the picture was actually taken in Japan. Also, it is on a social sharing website rather than a news website.
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This is the homepage of the online news magazine, Slate. Can you tell which stories are actually written by Slate authors and which are paid content?
Area 1: Top bar (We know you've got a story)
This is an ad. We can tell because it mentions money and also there is a blue arrow and "x" in the right corner. You can actually close out of the ad by clicking on the "x."
Area 2: Should California Stop Growing Almonds?
This is real content. It has an author and no blue "x."
Area 3: The Real Reasons Women Don't Go Into Tech
This is "sponsored content," meaning another company paid to put their content on Slate. This article will likely be biased toward the company that paid for the article.
Social Media
Social Media
Question: If you wanted to follow the Pope on Facebook, which of these accounts to the left should you follow?
Answer: None! None of these accounts have been verified by Facebook as actually being owned by the Pope. You can tell because there isn't a blue checkmark next to his name.
Below are two examples of verified accounts. The left is on Facebook and right is on Twitter. Both accounts have the blue checkmark next to the name so you can be sure you are following the actual person, company, etc.
Google Sites
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