FAKE NEWS WITHIN SOCIAL MEDIA

The era of social media has created a new medium for news. Social media is where many people now go to consume news.

Two-way communication has its perks. It has the luxury of enabling audience participation. The consumers of the news now can interact and communicate with the producers of the messages. It is inevitable that problems will emerge from this type of communication.

Fake news is sharing content on a platform that is unverified and untrue. The emergence of fake news and journalism creates a problem. It is difficult to filter legitimate messages on social media.

The consumers of the news must do their part when gathering information. They must verify the news they discover especially if they are going to share the content with others. Sharing non credited information creates more harm.

Not everybody is a reliable source. Whether it is attention seeking or not verifying information, consequences emerge from social media news.

Earlier this year the sports media conglomerate ESPN was mixed in controversy when it shared a tweet from revered NFL insider, Adam Schefter. Schefter tweeted that the offensive coordinator for the Miami Dolphins, Chan Gailey was fired. Another breaking story from the premier NFL news breaker Adam Schefter using his favorite social media platform. There was one problem. The tweet was not from Adam Schefter. The tweet was from an unverified Twitter account with the same twitter name Adam Schefter. The twitter handle from the source was not @AdamSchefter but instead @TuaNeedsHelp.

Twitter offers great tools. One of those tools is the blue check mark icon next to a Twitter account’s name and handle. The blue check mark verifies accounts. ESPN overlooked the blue check mark and as a result ran with an incorrect story.

There are consequences for using fake news. A journalist could lose their credentials, job, and audience for this mistake. Social media expert Anthony Adornato mentioned in page 149 of his book, Mobile and Social Media Journalism, “it is important to seek the truth and report it.”

It is vital to remember that speed and format are not an excuse for inaccuracy.