What does fake news look like? While it takes on a lot of forms, common themes are:

When I first saw fake news I was angry but then I was fascinated. It’s hard to understand why publishers intentionally post such bald-faced lies. A lot of fake news is easy to identify, but we see friends and family sharing it every day. Let’s dive in.

Trust your instinct

If something doesn’t seem right, it’s probably not. Here are some things to look for.

Emotion manipulation

Does the headline make you angry? Fill you with a sense of revenge? You’re being manipulated.

In the old days, headlines gave you a sneak peak of the article. In the age of fake news, headlines tell you what you’re going to feel. It’s hard to resist when the article is targeted at you, which is exactly why publishers do it. They get paid when you click.

Ridiculous facts

If it doesn’t seem right, it’s probably not. Dig in. Look at the links in the article. Try to find the sources and follow up.

Most fake news doesn’t link to sources. Search Google to find alternative perspectives.

Major news outlets will report on all significant stories, regardless if it supports their preferred political slant. If no other major outlets are reporting on the story, it’s probably not real or exaggerated. If only one slant is reporting, the story is probably exaggerated at least.

Lying numbers

Details make you seem more credible. For example, if I say, “Trump just choked on an ice cube”, you might believe me, but if I add more details, you’ll definitely believe me: “Yeah, he was drinking a Diet Coke at 8:30 PM during the Whitehouse correspondents dinner. A doctor arrived on the scene and diagnosed him with ICD code Y93.85, asphyxiation”.

It’s easy to make up numbers & details. It’s a lot harder to refute them. Try to have a healthy sense of disbelief of extra details that don’t add to the story.

Even real numbers can lie when they give the wrong impression. For example, if I say, “the average American has only 1 testicle” might seem like I’m saying that most American men have 1 testicle until you realize that half of the population is men and the other half is women. Maybe “average” doesn’t say what you thought it meant.

\[\frac{count(men) \cdot 2 + count(women) \cdot 0}{count(men) + count(women)} = 1.0\]

This is a deep topic. Whole books can be written about statistics that give the wrong impression. I had the pleasure of reading Calling Bullshit. It’s an excellent book about how real numbers and statistics can give you the wrong impression. I highly recommend it.

Don’t share fake news

If you did it accidentally, delete the post. “Unlike” the message. Do it now. It’s urgent.

Fake news is a virus. Seriously, you can make models like the ones they have for Covid transmission to predict where a story will spread next and how fast. For Covid, we wear masks to reduce transmission. For fake news, ignore the story. When modelling, this comparison is perfect because these two things are treated the same.

It’s urgent. The longer your “share” or “like” is out there, the more people will see it and be tricked because they trust you.