Fact-check every information you come across before sharing!

That’s how intelligent people do.

Before I post anything, I want to be sure I am not mixing up facts with emotions. I like to Google and be sure I am not spreading misinformation. We need to understand that there are people who take actions based on the information they get here on social media and when they act on this false information, the implication could be far-reaching.

Personally, this is how I fact-check any information I come across!

1. I run to Twitter to search for the “keyword” and see what others are saying about it? If it’s about something popular, it should be trending on Twitter already.

2. If it’s a news item, I search for it on reputable local and international news websites — Punch, Channels, BBC etc.

3. If it’s an image, I do a reverse image search on Google. I get to know if the image has been used somewhere else before and when it was first posted on the internet.

4. If it’s “specialised information”, I ask myself, which body/ organization should be responsible for releasing such information. For instance — Any information about Corona Virus in Nigeria that I can’t find on NCDC website is ‘likely’ false.

As a rule of thumb;

1. Every broadcast message I receive on Whatsapp is considered FALSE by default.

2. News item posted only on a Random ‘Blog’ that I haven’t heard of before is seen to be FALSE by default too.

3. No disrespect to the guys at Opera, any information I see on Opera News is considered FALSE by default until it has been corroborated by other popular mainstream media.

4. On Social Media, there are people I always take their information with a pinch of salt, Reno Omokri is one of them, no apologies!

Tell me how you do fact-checking !