With more and more people relying on the internet and social media for their information, it is becoming more and more difficult for people to ignore the proliferation of “fake news”. While some of these grossly untrue and exaggerated snippets are easy enough to detect, there are some that feel so real that it is somewhat problematic for a person to determine whether what they are reading is indeed the truth or not. This is why it is important for individuals to know whether what they are reading is fake or not.

Why is fake news so rampant these days and why are these considered relevant by many despite the fact that these are untrue? Why should you be aware of which news to believe in and which ones to proclaim as fake?

If you look at the fake news you are reading, you will find that there are actually a few different kinds out there. The most rampant are those that are totally unreal, and these are those that make dubious and fantastical claims about a lot of things. There are those that proclaim a cure has been found for everything under the sun and it has been around for a while now, but just not being used for some reason or other. There are also those that declare a catastrophic event is going to wipe out the entire planet in the next few days or so.

There are also “news stories” that actually sound legit, but are just propaganda trying to paint a bad picture of someone in power or to simply embarrass a public or political figure. These are the more dangerous and more damaging ones to society since these can usher in problems for those around the said public figure, and may even start destabilizing a nation.  These may also cause chaos to ensue if people in power start believing in such fairy tales.

Who makes these fake news and why should people be careful about what they believe when they read things online? A lot of those who write such fallacies are those who are out to discredit certain individuals, companies, or entities. These people are either being paid to do so or are out to get something out of such a deed for themselves.

Others who write these things unwittingly are those who are fed the information by individuals who stand to gain from the spreading of such fake news. Legitimate journalists who are made to believe that what they are being told is the truth sometimes fall victim to the fake news phenomenon and end up writing these as real news. These are those journalists who want to beat the competition with a so-called scoop or breaking news and write such stories without doing more research or even confirming if what they were told is true.

In the end, the people who read these things are ultimately in charge of what will happen. Knowing what to believe and what to shrug off as not worth reading and believing will help keep fake news at bay. While these cannot be totally stopped, since there will always be people trying to create chaos with the use of fallacies, not believing in them and knowing which stories are real from which ones are fake will help keep things on even keel.