How to fight ‘fake news’ with YouTube

[Sponsored content by Britannica]

Have you ever started to watch one video on YouTube, only to emerge hours later from the rabbit hole, asking yourself: “what happened to the time?” Students are just as susceptible to this giant YouTube vortex, and you can use this to your advantage.

This article will look at how teachers can use engaging videos that launch classes into literacy discussions on fake news. As as class, watch each video discussion starter and then go through the set of questions that push students to think and share.

How A Teen Earns Thousands Publishing Lies

• How and why do you think we have reached the point as a society where fake, viral stories are being shared more often than factual news stories?
• What techniques are these fake news creators using to attract attention to their stories Why do you think this works?
• How are these fake news creators making money from these websites?
• What do you think can and should be done to help deal with the fake news problem?
• After watching this video, what red flags will you look for to identify questionable news sources?

How False News Can Spread

• Why is circular reporting much more common today than years ago?
• Why do you think it’s so difficult to overcome the sharing of misinformation in cases such as the vaccine study discussed in this video?
• What are some examples that you have seen of misinformation spreading online?
• What steps can you take to be sure that you avoid helping the spread of misinformation and fake news?

Why Do Our Brains Love Fake News?

• Why are we so susceptible to believing fake news?
• How does cognitive bias, specifically confirmation bias, influence how we interpret what we read and see?
• Why is it important for us to understand confirmation bias and recognize it in ourselves?
• What are some ways you can deal with confirmation bias?

How Does “Fake” News Become News?

• Imagine you are Eric, the guy who tweeted the photos from this video that went viral. How would you feel after this incident? What important lessons would you learn?
• What is confirmation bias and what role did it play in this “news” going viral?
• Why do you think more young people are more likely to believe user-generated content than mainstream news sources? Do you agree with this way of thinking?
• Why do stories like this continue to spread, even when they are proven to be false?

How NOT to Spot Fake News

• Why should we be careful to not always discount stories that seem suspicious?
• What is the difference between propaganda and propaganda function?
• Describe the filters that we should use to evaluate news sources, as discussed in this video.
• “An inconvenient truth may convene a flak machine more quickly and violently than a falsehood.” Can you think of any examples of this from recent news?

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This article was sponsored by Britannica.