05April2024
Last week in my communications class, we learned how to use certain tools available to us online to decipher the truth in the media. It was interesting because I learned that if you are not aware of these tools, you are apt to believe everything you see and hear in the media. Because it is so easy to deceive people with posts on social media and the internet, this has become one of the biggest problems in social relationships.
Lateral reading is a technique where you read other web pages, like tab to tab to discover what other web sites are saying about what you are reading. It is a technique that journalists use all the time to check facts. Advance lateral reading is just some more tips and tricks to help you learn how to determine what is reliable online. It is leaving the website, opening new tabs, to check to see what others are saying about the website. In advanced lateral reading, you might check the comments underneath the story to see what others are saying and use that information to further fact check on other websites. You may look up key words or sentences within the story to find out if they are mentioned on other websites specifically.
I watched a Dasani water video where the producers of this video were trying to persuade their audience that drinking Dasani water was bad for your health and could even lead to death if a person continued to drink it due to the chemicals that are put in the water to preserve it. My first response after watching the Dasani water video was wow, I had no idea that water was bad for you. They sounded convincing, even in the tone they were using. Without checking the story out, I would have been fooled. Along with the fact checking guide, I was able to find out that the story was false in how they portrayed that the level of toxic chemicals in the water could kill you or give you cancer. It was a good exercise in finding the truth.
In another video I was taught to use Critical Observation skills to be able to look past the obvious in the pictures to determine if the picture was accurate or trying to persuade the viewer to think and agree with the post. Although at first glance, the picture appeared to be outside the US and in an Asian country, the details showed differently. I was able to identify the country in the Critical Observation video once the video told me to look past the obvious things in the video. It was cold and I looked at the background and saw the signs written in French, so I assumed it was France. I almost immediately knew the city in the video was New York because I saw the sign for the Law Office written in English, and I saw the area code which was a US area code. Also, it looked like New York to me, like Chinatown.
Looking in reverse of what you see can enable you to see details you would not ordinarily notice to give you more information about a photo. Also, you are able to detect photoshopped pictures more easily if you look at the details. I guess it is all in the detail when I think about reverse image search techniques.
The technique I found the most interesting is the using of the quotation marks to fact check specific phrases and wording in an article to find out if it is true or not. I found using that skill along side the lateral reading is a great way to find out if the article is genuine and original. I also like the Critical Observation skill. I tend to always overlook the details, so this video made me think about how much more I could see, if I looked beyond what was being presented. Lastly, I think all the fact checker techniques are useful in being able to discern true stories. The pyramid kind of went over my head a little. It was a lot of information to absorb and understand. I do like that you in the world of the internet in which we live now that you do have to discern true scientific sources and data against fake data and data used only for propaganda purposes.
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