The Solution? Think Like a Fact-Checker

Fact-checking is a form of information hygiene—it can minimize your own susceptibility to misinformation and disinformation, and help you to avoid spreading it to others.

As an introduction, please watch the following video [3:13], which discusses the results of a very interesting study of Stanford students, historians, and professional fact-checkers (Wineburg and McGrew). Which group do you think did the best job of identifying reliable sources?

Additional viewing options: Turn on closed captions with the "CC" button or use the text transcript if you prefer to read.

Adapted from "Introduction to College Research" by Walter Butler, Aloha Sargent, and Kelsey Smith, licensed under CC BY 4.0

"Online Verification Skills - Video 1: Introductory Video." YouTube, uploaded by NewsWise, 29 June 2018.

Wineburg, Sam, and Sarah McGrew. “Lateral Reading: Reading Less and Learning More When Evaluating Digital Information.” Stanford History Education Group Working Paper No. 2017-A1, 6 Oct. 2017, dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3048994.