Spider Web Photo by Josef F. Steufer CC BY
Social Media is the area where you need the most skepticism and caution. News accounts are often a tissue of unfounded sources and images are not current. There is no one performing the traditional role of editor, which is to investigate stories for truthfulness and accuracy.
If you are relying on a source located in social media, apply the following standards, (from Sheridan Library, Johns Hopkins University),
•Location of the source - are they in the place they are tweeting or posting about?
•Network - who is in their network and who follows them? Do I know this account?
•Content - Can the information be corroborated from other sources?
•Contextual updates - Do they usually post or tweet on this topic?
•If so, what did past or updated posts say? Do they fill in more details?
•Age - What is the age of the account in question? Be wary of recently created accounts.
•Reliability - Is the source of information reliable?
