By Leticia Madrigal | Social Media Specialist
@lettycandoit
Social media. What is real? What is fake?
In a time where just about any individual can post, share and view just about anything he or she is looking for, we find ourselves questioning what is actually real.
Ridiculous headlines will try to get us to click links of articles that turn out to be nothing related to the actual headline.
Many of which are filled with advertisements that bombard the page, in which case it’s easy to identify that the main purpose of that website is to have you simply click for more page views.
Videos on websites such as YouTube, the largest video sharing website, can often be misleading as well. With major hooks and fake imagines on the cover of the videos, these users will once again elicit an action – for one click and watch even just a small portion of the view.
YouTube and other sponsors will pay users a percentage to per view. Which is some user will do this.
But what can we do to stay away from sources that will simply elicit an action for their own benefit?
There is no specific formula to determine what is real and what is not.
Consumers must take the time to do research to verify the accuracy of the article, video or simple post on social media.
Evaluation of the source and content pertaining to a doubtful message is ideal.
Tips from aol.com on how to do so include: checking the source against other sources, using a fact-checking website such as factcheck.org, taking a closer look the website, checking the date of the post and taking the time to read an article with an outrageous headline.