Evaluating Social Media Information

According to the Pew Internet Research, more Americans use social media to get news than print newspapers (Geiger, 2019). "Half of U.S. adults get news at least sometimes from social media" (2022).

Where do you get your news? Do you use social media to get your news, and if so, what platforms?

How can you trust the information you find on social media?

• (2022). Social Media and News Fact Sheet. Pew Internet Center. Retrieved from https://www.pewresearch.org/journalism/fact-sheet/social-media-and-news-fact-sheet.
• Geiger, A.W.(2019). "Key findings about the online news landscape in America." Facttank. Pew Internet Center. Retrieved from https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/09/11/key-findings-about-the-online-news-landscape-in-america.

• Mobile technology has allowed us to be connected at all times for breaking news.
• We can now access information anywhere and at any time.
• Social media notification systems will constantly update us on new information.
• The newest information, however, is not always the most accurate.

Mark Baraback, writer of the Los Angeles Times wrote, that it is "an excessive amount of screen time devoted to the absorption of dystopian news" (2020).

(2020). On ‘Doomsurfing’ and ‘Doomscrolling.’ https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/doomsurfing-doomscrolling-words-were-watching

The pandemic has lead to an increase in news consumption which “makes us more vulnerable to being fooled” (Fleming, 2020).

Fleming, N. (2020, June 17). ‘“Coronavirus misinformation, and how scientists can help to fight it.“ Nature. https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-01834-3