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Doctored Oz Photo and Fake Florida Banned Books List

Here is a link to the News Literacy Project’s page that explains how to question “photos” and other posts. Be careful about emotionally charged content without links and citations. Check into these before you believe them or share them. If there are no news articles or links to credible documents associated with them, you should probably disregard them.

Critical Thinking vs. Outrage

From The News Literacy Project: “Provoking outrage remains a common goal of misinformation purveyors. People are generally better at detecting misinformation when they slow down and engage their logical, critical faculties. But strong emotions quickly circumvent these higher-order abilities and cause people to like and share online content too quickly. Outrage is one of the most effective emotional targets that purveyors of misinformation can use to get their messages to spread widely. Whether it’s claims that wildly exaggerate runaway gas prices or inflation, or posts designed to galvanize antipathy for a particular public figure, outrage continues to prove itself a major vulnerability in people’s information defenses.”

Pseudoscience

Be careful about the “facts” shared on the Internet that are not based on real science. Nutrition advice can drive sales for a “nutritionist” touting a diet or detox or supplements but waste your money or actually be unsafe. Many states don’t require formal training for nutritionists, so that title can be used freely. Always check credentials to make sure they are registered dietitians or physicians. Even then, it is a good idea to corroborate their findings or recommendations with others in their field.