Social Media Week

Can you trust it? Sifting for facts and quashing rumours in the social stream.

The Social Media & Newsgathering masterclass is an in-depth session presented by AFP to introduce journalists, fact checkers, bloggers, writers and content creators to newsgathering guidelines in the digital world.

Social media is a vital tool for distributing news and information. From friends to politicians, celebrities to activists, our sources of information have never been so accessible. For journalists, this is both helpful and challenging.

Traditional fact-checking techniques need to be updated, while new opportunities for finding news emerge daily. But how can we check, quickly, if that information is true? People spread false information for numerous reasons, from playing a joke to trying to prove a political point or seeking to boost clicks.

• What are the questions to ask when studying a social media user’s digital footprint?
• What are the warning signs that “facts” may be fiction?
• What tools and techniques can we use to check whether an image is what it claims to be?