Social Media and Truth

When it comes to social media, I know what I know basically from trial and error.  I was never taught to use any social media sources growing up, I think it was just something that developed naturally by exploring and learning on my own time and in my own way.  I use what I have learned from exploring social media to find new breaking stories or news updates.  I use social media a majority of the time for finding and reading stories that are interesting to me.  A lot of the time I read most stories from sources such as the Huffington Post, Buzzfeed, or the Times.  Stories from those sources get shared thousands of times on Facebook and Twitter, they end up covering my newsfeed, and that's typically how I am able to find new information that I am interested in rather easily.  By using social media sites I was able to quickly find out news such as the death on Joan Rivers, the news that Prince William and Kate are expecting, and even that my local college team won their first football game of the season today! 

 

For the most part I feel as though stories that I read are credible when they are posted and shared on multiple sites at the same time.  Stories that are posted on those credible sites are what I trust when it comes to reading any topic of breaking news.  I have to admit, there have been a few incidents where I have clicked on a story that I thought to be true, but turns out to be an elaborate hoax that has been posted and shared since it was created in like 2008.  Stories like that are definitely the most annoying!

 

I feel that stories on each individual media site could be a lot more reliable by getting all facts straight before reporting.  A lot of the time it seems sites are more eager to be the first to make a breaking news report, rather than post accurate and reliable information.