News Sources: How to Know if a Source is Credible/Legitimate vs. NOT Credible/Illegitimate/Misinformation

Sometimes fake news can appear in the form of a tweet, normally from a fake twitter account. There are a few things you can look for if you suspect it to be false...

1) How long has the account been active? If the account has only been active a short time, especially if it's  a organization or person who is well known, than it's a sign that it's probably fake. 

2) How many posts does the account have? If there's only a few posts on the account, especially if from something well known (i.e. New York Times), it's another sign that it's fake. 

3) Does the screen name and URL match? For example, if the URL is something like "twitter.com/john-doe," but the name in the profile doesn't match that, it's probably a fake profile. 

What you see above is an example of fake news you might find on Facebook. Here are some tips for making sure the stories you see are not fake. 

• Check the website of the source, and make sure it doesn't end in "com.co" or "lo"
• Check the date-sometimes old stories are treated as new, even though it might not be relevant anymore 
• Make sure it's not from a satire site like "The Onion" or the "Borowitz Report.' These are commentaries, and while fun to read, are not legitimate facts. 
• Check the author. For example, if you see a news story about how cancer is cured by eating healthy, check to see what the credentials of the author are and what their medical background is. 
• Does the story sound crazy? Then it's probably a sign that it's not true. Check the story by seeing if other sources are reporting on it, or if there are links from where the facts are from.