By Laura Jean Null
Staff Writer

In today’s modern world of technology, the multimedia aspects of everyday life are playing a major part in confusing people.

The confusion lays upon a constant flow of non-factual information.

From everyday news stories to the environment, to scandals, to deaths and politics, the internet is a whole outlet for finding fake news stories.

Common media outlets from Facebook to Twitter take just a matter of a click to share or retweet false news.

Also, these phony reports not only create a mass spread of information, but those in agreement toward the statements use untruthful stories or fake facts to debate on controversial topics.

For example, on Facebook the other day this unnamed person commented on someone else’s post.

The unnamed person falsely stated that on Valentine’s Day, President Donald Trump came together with nine other countries to collaborate ideas to prevent a meteor from destroying planet earth.

He then continued on, claiming that God and Trump saved earth.

After fact checking, no reports of a meteor, asteroid coming for earth, Donald Trump and God allegedly saving it, this is just another example of fake news that spread around on web.

Additionally, we must question media rights.

We do have the right to share opinions based off facts to support are reasoning, but do we have the right to share false news?

Even so, how do we tell if news is false or not?

Until or if the media will ever monitor the difference between fake and real news, a solution must be used for each individual self.

Simple: fact check the heck out of the information you are given.

From sharing, to creating, to editing photos and now with new technology coming out that allows you to edit video and audio in real time, fake news is and will be spreading more like wild fire, so be on the lookout.

There is this so called famous quote by Mark Twain, “If you don’t read the newspaper, you’re uniformed. If you read the newspaper, you’re misinformed.”

This quote holds true today just as much as it did when it was first created.

Not everything you see or hear on the internet is true and just because someone with money or power says it does not make it more credible than the facts.

Facts are proven, there is evidence to support it, just be cautious of what is and is not accurate and fact check the world around you.

Email Laura at:
lnull@live.esu.edu