Finding the Facts within Social Media News

The role that social media plays today has increasingly heightened with many people turning toward their favorite social media platform to find the most relevant news. We are constantly absorbing news but not all news is fully factual and can lead to the spread of misinformation. So how can journalists sift through the relentless masses of social media news to provide the most efficient and factual information?

News is happening day and night and social media is a hub where many turn to stay updated. As digital news becomes a main source, there is a growing need to fact-check for journalists. Transparency and clear information remains a big necessity especially now with the current climate surrounding the election and ongoing health crisis with Covid-19.

With social media, everyone has a voice and when information is posted it has the potential to spread fast especially through a major organization or someone who has a large following. As journalists, we have a duty to find the facts to educate our viewers appropriately by fact-checking.

Vetting the information we receive is pertinent in slowing the “fake news” continuation to give the audience the most credible news. There are even sites that help fact-check. This website has a list of sites to fact-check:

Journalists definitely have a role to provide factual information and it may take some time to fact-check but it has to be done. Being impulsive just to be one of “the first” to get the news out to the public can be detrimental to not only the readers as any misinformation can lead to the spread of “fake news” and consequentially a distrust in journalists or even in social media. Let’s provide quality work over speed and quantity. Taking a measured approach to curate your work will definitely benefit in the long run to gain and keep your audience loyalty.

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