How to sort through articles and videos online
When seeing an article or post online, it may seem suspicious or too good to be true. Thankfully, there are a few different steps you can take to ensure that the source or the media itself is true.
1. Check the sources domain and extension
A domain extension is the very end of the websites url. There are various different extensions, and the most common you probably have seen are .com, .org, .gov, and .edu. While .com domains can be credible, usually the more reliable sources end in .org, .gov, and .edu. Additionally, inspect the url and make sure the ending is not an unfamiliar one like .co or there are no typos in the URL like "amozon.com"
2. Look over the sources information
If the websites domain appears to look credible, you should also explore the website and specifically find information that proves it is a real source. Finding information such as contact emails, phone numbers, and addresses are usually good, and would be in an about or contact section of a website.
When looking at articles see if there is an author listed, and if there is a picture or bio for them. Do a quick online search and see what other work they have contributed to, or if there are various pictures and videos of them reporting.
If looking at a post, check the posts description for a listed source. Also check the account and see what information they provide in their bio, as well as any links they provide with possible credible domain extensions
Images or video content could also be manipulated. Often, AI created videos will have a moving watermark distinguishing that it is fake, such as Sora AI with ChatGPT and Meta AI.
For all content, also check the publication date. There's chances that the information is just randomly resurfacing due to algorithms or for clickbait..
3. Search the internet for other sources
If the media seems to be substantial enough, chances are it has or is being reported by other sources as well. Type the subject in on google and look to see what results come up. Scroll the all, images, videos, and news tabs depending on what the content is, and if it doesn't appear from any credible sources, the information may be fake, misleading or speculative.
Fact checking sites also exist and can be used to check up on what is true or not. The University of California, Berkeley has a list of fact checking websites they recommend here.