5 tips to avoid misleading news on the internet

Our news feeds are full of breaking stories that we consume on a daily basis, but do you ever ask yourself, how much of this is accurate?

We know you don’t feel the need to check whether the news is fake or misleading, and you simply rely on the source without verifying it. We all do it, but maybe now it's the time to start questioning the validity of these stories.

When it comes to celebrities, there’s a lot to consider before believing the headlines because sometimes you’re dealing with an inside scoop or even the celebrities themselves spreading fake news to stay in the limelight.

According to a 2022 celebrity fake news index by ExpressVPN, you’ll be taken aback by the number of fake news stories associated with stars like; Tom Brady, Joe Rogan, and Elon Musk.

Notably, sometimes fake news benefits celebrities but more often than not, it puts them in a negative light.

If you don’t know how to avoid misleading news on the Internet, note these helpful tips to get the most relevant and reliable information possible!

1. Develop critical thinking

You must consume a piece of news and think over it critically. It will help you analyze the information well and collect the supporting facts! Challenge your assumptions and biases with already proven and true information. This way, there will be fewer chances of you consuming fake information and, of course, believing it!

2. Check the source

News is only accurate if the sources are reliable.

Before consuming any piece of news, we should check the source as news flooding on social media or any such fast-consuming platform could be fake.

And what we do, without any fact-check is? We forward it.

What if we instead check the source and think critically? This way, we will be analyzing the news in a much better way and can break the chain of misinformation.

3. Use fact-checking tools

Reading, analyzing, checking the source; what’s next? It is time to check the facts! You read the news, think over it, try to find out bias, and then find the answer to all your questions with facts and sources.

Obviously, we do not have much time to follow all these steps meticulously. So, at this stage, we can try a few fact-checking tools and make ourselves completely aware of whether the facts are correct or not.

4. Read on other platforms

Every news platform tries to win the rat race with a piece of news, but that doesn’t mean that all will be releasing misleading news. As journalism is a fourth pillar of democracy, a few news platforms try to maintain the standards and release credible news. So, try reading on other platforms too.

5. Twitter is the best place!

Anything which is popular or is also trending, trends on Twitter, so you can check the hashtags and review the threads to verify the news.

Twitter is also an open space to discuss various topics so that you can use it effectively. You just have to comment in doubt on a trending thread, and people might start joining in to clear the doubts.

This way, you can analyze the news with a number of people and understand their perspectives. Because two is always better than one.

Final words

By now, you probably understand how common misleading news is on the internet and how easy it is to fall for it without doing any information checks. So, try using some of these tips to stop the cycle of spreading fake news and misinformation to other people.