What is “fake news?” Fake news is propaganda that deceives people for money or to put slander on someone’s name. It can be found anywhere on the internet, especially on social media platforms. Not to worry, there are many ways to find out if the article you’re reading is bogus or if it’s real.

Check the names. Look up every single name you come across. The author, people quoted and anyone the quote mentions. Most likely, there will be an author that you can look up. If there is no author, then start being skeptical. Look up the names and you should be able to tell if they are an actual person and if they are qualified to be discussing the topic. Pay attention to the quotes, they are vital for a news article and can be used to sway an audience.

Check the date. Say you are looking up something about robots, you wouldn’t want something from the 1990s. If you are writing an essay, this will tell you if the information is outdated or not. You also want to make sure the date is the actual date of the event as people often change the date to confuse people.

Read the whole article. Don’t just read the title and immediately share it with others. People usually put fake headlines that are exaggerated and don’t have anything to do with the actual story. People more often than not, will copy articles and change the title to attract people’s attention.

Look at the website. Look for ways to contact the person who wrote the article. Read the “about” section of the website. Look at the other articles from that same website. These are all clues to tell if that website is a fake one. Some fake news websites will outright tell you that the articles are fake. Others will try to fool you and look like an official website with an official looking name. Abcnews.com.co is a fake website that sounds and looks official.

However, if you don’t feel like doing all of the research, then there are websites that “debunk” fake stories. Factckeck.org, Snopes.com and PolitiFact.com. Hopefully now you can be a little wary of the articles you read and know a little bit more on fake news.