Doing a quick Google search will give you a good grasp of what is the main ideas on a given topic. On the other hand, since anyone who has access to the internet and a computer can easily publish anything over the web, it becomes very important to assess the information that you find. This is true especially when you are doing a research paper or perhaps, then searching for information similar to health, financial data, election or even consumer products.
Information can be Manipulated Online
There are many websites over the internet that gives people the power to make changes on a given event, story or product to fall in their favor. This at the same time is the reason why there are fake news running around the internet.
One of the sources where fake news are rampant are on social media websites. If seen and read by untrained eye, it can spread information that can damage a certain entity.
So how are we going to prevent this sort of thing from happening? It is pretty straightforward actually. There are a few ways on how it could be done.
Currency
In this, what you are looking for is how recent the information was updated, posted or published. If you can find the publication date, then that would be a good start.
Relevance
You need to know whether the information is relevant to the topic and at the same time, check who was the intended audience for it? Aside from that, it is vital that you do your due diligence in comparing the sources that you can found on the topic. If two sources tell you the same thing, then you are good. Otherwise, then, you have to do further research.
Authority
It is vital to know who has written the information. Are they knowledgeable or known experts in their field? For instance, if the article was about health, was it written by a regarded nurse or doctor? Same goes with other topics.
Accuracy
You have to know where the information was acquired. Is there something to support it? Is it verifiable? These are a few of the questions that must be asked by any discerning reader.