Navigating a Marketplace of Misinformation

When it comes to any news or information source, the best practice is to doubt its authenticity, at least at first. Take a moment to look up the source. Note its agenda and where its revenue comes from. It’s also critical to teach this skill to children, as believing everything they see and read can be harmful to their health and safety. Caution costs only a few minutes, while the alternative could cost you so much more.

Ads are getting harder to spot. Here are a few tips to help everyone in the family tell whether what they’re reading online is trying to sell them something:

• Look for the small label—though how it appears is inconsistent. Sometimes it’s only the small word “Ad” in the corner or “Promoted” on the edge of a social media post.
• Just because it looks like news doesn’t mean it is. Watch out for articles labeled “sponsored content”—they’re paid for by advertisers and not objective news.
• Disregard the news content in anything that pops up. It’s almost always an ad.

Consumer Reports’ team suggests that the best and most basic step to protect yourself from scammers is to read more than a few reviews before buying anything. Never rely on the number of reviews or the average score. Look for the same positive language repeated in multiple reviews, and watch for descriptions of products that don’t relate to what you think you’d be buying. Those are signs of possible fraud. Even if the overall scores are good, if the more recent reviews seem negative, it’s a common red flag that the product quality might have dropped or the vendor might have switched in a different product to take advantage of past positive reviews. James Thomson, former business head of Amazon Services, told Consumer Reports, “My recommendation to all customers is to look at not only good reviews, but also the bad reviews. How recently were they posted? Do you see reviews for completely different products?” If you think you’ve found a product on Amazon with hijacked reviews, report it, either through the link appearing under every review to report abuses, or by including the tag @Amazon in a tweet with a screenshot and using the hashtag #StopReviewHijacking. Online user reviews have an important place in helping consumers. But like anything else, they should be read with a high degree of skepticism.

We should all speak out against misinformation within our circle of friends, acquaintances, and social media followers. According to Leticia Bode, a Georgetown University professor who’s studied the effect of misinformation corrections on social media, “It’s important to call out misinformation you see on social media because it provides a counter narrative.” Instead of taking on the entire internet, focus on your friends and family first. Make sure you come prepared with your own research from expert sources, and show a diplomatic attitude. Accusatory tones won’t help persuade people.