Finding Credible Sources

Which of the following actions should you take when trying to decide whether an online news article is credible?

• Share the article on social media before reading it.

• Read the article and try to corroborate the information the author presents.

• Trust that the writer of the article is telling the truth.

• Ignore the article if you think the author might be biased.

Imagine that you see a message that says, "Due to an emergency, school has been canceled until next Monday. Please share immediately." The message looks official, but you're not sure. How can you find out more?

• Check the school website and have your parents call the school to confirm the message.

• Check the source.

• Look closely for clues that something is not right.

• All of the above.

Imagine that you see a message that says, "Due to an emergency, school has been canceled until next Monday. Please share immediately," and were about to share it. Is it OK to share the message?

• ​​​​​It's OK to share the message because it says, "Please share immediately."

• It's OK to share the message because it looks official and you want others to know about an emergency school closure.

• It's not OK to share the message because you're not sure it's true and spreading fake news can cause confusion.

• It's not OK to share the message because you want to wait for others to share it first.

Imagine you see an article with a headline that reads, "Scientists Find Playing Video Games Improves Memory." You share the article and later realize it's fake. What should you do after you realize you shared false information?

• Keep the post up just to see how many people fall for it.

• Delete your post and post a correction.

• Nothing. People will forget about the post in a day or two anyway.

• Share other articles with similar headlines to make it look like the information is true.

How confident are you in being able to determine the credibility of something you read online?

• I feel very confident.

• I feel somewhat confident.

• I don't feel confident.