We are bombarded with information every day in the digital age. Social networks have democratized the sharing of links and news, making something simple great in a matter of seconds, especially due to the number of active users on these platforms every day.
While this can be useful in many scenarios, especially for those who don’t have much time to inform themselves via official means of communication, there are some dangers associated with this facility as it is difficult to know who to trust on the internet.
The Pan American Health Organization has developed a handbook on the information epidemic that addresses the fight against disinformation in times of COVID-19. (Source: Gettyimages/Reproduction)
Without source control, this problem can make room for news stories that are often inaccurate and spread at an extraordinary rate. But how to avoid misinformation? Check out some ideas below.
wrong information problem
As mentioned, misinformation is a danger to society because countless people can read a news story without checking the sources and think it’s true.
Thus, when properly controlled, this information, like a social network, can take over the environment with a sense of insecurity, creating suffering and discomfort for those involved.
There are even cases where disinformation is a powerful weapon to mislead readers and with it provokes unfounded arguments based on invented arguments.
In that sense, a good tip is to always do an information scan on the internet itself. Have you received any suspicious information? Throw in the main terms in it to the search engines and see if anyone else has something to say about it.
In this regard, there are alarming data about our country that should be noted. According to a 2018 study by the World Research Institute (Ipsos), 62% of respondents said they believed some fake news in their life. The data is alarming compared to the world average of 48%.
Controlling sources and checking news can be useful tools in combating disinformation. (Source: Gettyimages/Reproduction)
Other research has explored the mechanisms of spreading misinformation through fake news and found that social networks, including messaging apps like WhatsApp, top the list.
In this way, fake content goes viral often without users noticing because they easily believe what happened to them and instinctively share it anyway.
In this way, the consequences of disinformation can reach the moral and ethical destruction of an individual or even a group of individuals. Usually, fake news has a basis in society about something that has already happened or manipulates and distorts situations.
This makes them very interesting for those who will receive them, thereby creating a state of enthusiasm for light sharing to occur, which can be quite negative.
Ways to avoid misinformation
There are some applications that can be useful in combating disinformation. For example, when you receive a link through social networks, suspect the most visible, such as the Uniform Resource Locator (URL), the name of the portal, and the title of the post. The more ridiculous the content presented, the more distrust you have to have, because this fake news.
From there, always check keywords in search engines by looking at the sources of this information. Whenever something is posted directly on the social network, do the same scan through other comments and articles on the internet. Thus, you will be able to discover the origin of the highlighted terms and see if it is true.
Another basic tip is to pay attention to the publication date of some news, as in most cases it may be true, but outdated. It can be a danger to society when shared out of context, including temporal. There is also an app for mobile devices that can be quite interesting when checking out digital content: Message Checker.
Message Checker helps users to check the information shared over the internet. (Source: Gettyimages/Reproduction)
Message control application with an intuitive and simple interface, developed with the aim of serving users of different age groups who want to prevent fraud in the online environment, is free of charge.
It’s a message aggregator that provides a great experience from start to finish, with its main functions being news checking, URL detection – knowing if the received link is trustworthy in all respects – and word search. reliability of information.
There are other security features in the app that can give users even more peace of mind, including invisible mode – so messages can be viewed without anyone noticing.
The most interesting of all the tools available is that the software has an intelligent database full of already verified suspicious links, which ensures the efficiency of the check.
Initially available only to Android OS users, Message Checker is ad-free and can be integrated with numerous other apps, including major messengers and social networks.
Did you like the news? stop Move down Message Checker on your device right now!
Source: Tec Mundo
