We should all know by now that it is not appropriate to trust everything that you read or view on the Internet. There is a huge amount of intentional (and unintentional) misinformation available on the web and internet companies are very adept at grabbing our attention and getting us to click on their content. After all, our clicks generate income for them.
You may recall a time when you have shared an article with a sensational headline warning people to act now to save the world.
Consider what you would do if you received an email like this:
> Warning: Several shipments of bananas from Costa Rica have been infected with necrotizing fasciitis, otherwise known as flesh-eating bacteria. Recently this disease has decimated the monkey population in Costa Rica…and has been able to graft itself to the skin of fruits in the region, most notably the banana…It is advised not to purchase bananas for the next three weeks…
>
> The skin infection from necrotizing fasciitis is very painful and eats to to three centimetres of flesh per hour. Amputation is likely, death is possible…The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has been reluctant to issue a countrywide warning because of fear of nationwide panic. They have secretly admitted that they feel upwards of 15,000 this will affect Canadians but that these are acceptable numbers. Please forward this to as many people as you care about as possible as we do not feel 15,000 is an acceptable number. -Manheim Research Institute, Center for Disease Control, Atlanta, Georgia
How would you proceed? Does the email seem legitimate? The Center for Disease Control is certainly a reputable source for this kind of information. What evidence can you gather from the text itself that the email was actually created by the CDC? Did you know the Manheim Research Institute was a part of the CDC?
Does the email seem sketchy? Why or why not?
##### Web Literacy for Student Fact-Checkers
Michael Caulfield, Director of Blended and Networked Learning at Washington State University has written (and continues to update) an excellent [guide](https://webliteracy.pressbooks.com/) for students looking to improve their ability to confirm the quality of web sources.
Using Mike’s guide, visit his [blog](fourmoves.blog) and try one or two of his challenges, then create a new blog post to write about how Mike’s four moves and a habit might influence your online activities.
##### Categories for this post:
* TWU Online
* Four Moves
* Digital Literacy