Finding Truthful Information

The Problem

In a DoSomething survey, 67% of young people said finding truthful information online is one of the biggest challenges they face online. Yet, while young people find this difficult, it’s a problem for every generation, especially adults who are seven times more likely to share articles with untrue information than people aged 18-29. Check out this article about how our brains trick us into believing fake information that’s made to manipulate our opinions and beliefs.

Important Information

Navigating the Internet and noticing what information is true and what information is spun up to spread misinformation is difficult. Here are some key things to know about finding truthful information online:

The 3 Red Flags that something may not be totally truthful:

• Makes up and distorts common information.
• Fails to provide any credible sourcing.
• Does not disclose funding sources.

What does credible sourcing look like?

• References a wire service (AP, Reuters), a press release, or any form of an official statement.
• Uses multiple named sources that have a first hand account.
• If based on an anonymous source, report is backed by a credible journalist in the space.
• Cites a document, photo, video, or other form of evidence to back the story.

Why Conversation Matters

This problem (and many others!) affects both young people and adults. Having an open conversation can spark greater understanding about how we can behave responsibly and treat each other better online.

Young people today have never grown up in a time where being online was not apart of our daily lives. Talking to adults and helping them learn about the skills you use online is a great way to show them how our generation uses technology for good.

Pro Tips

Sometimes it may be difficult to talk to the adults in your life about technology for a variety of reasons. Here are some of our pro tips on how to approach the conversation:

• Make it a partnership: When you position a tough topic as something that you both can work through together, the other person in the conversation can be more receptive to change, especially an adult who may be hypocritical about their technology use or not know too much about how you use technology
• Go through examples together: Some of the best ways to tackle a problem with an adult in your life is showing examples of what you may encounter, pointing out what may be the red flags, and explaining how you would come to a solution.
• Be receptive to feedback: Even though you might be an expert on the topic, it’s so important to acknowledge that there may be things you don’t know or could do better online. If the adult you’re talking to points that out, it’s a good idea to accept the feedback and even ask them for ways that they could help you improve.