On how to read: Is it fake? Elvis isn’t dead? Is X turning into a payment app?

Yes. Fake news (in plural) are everywhere. There are a lot of flat earth believers. The sacred abduction worshippers are turning into a mob and we only need people believing vaccines are devilish to make it worst (ah, it has already happened). Then… How to know if we can confide/trust/feel more or less safe in information? Or at least reasonably think it is trustable enough.

First.

You can go verify the source. Verifiable and trustworthy things can be tracked into a source. The company, the university or the scientific study can be quoted (seemingly) here and there but if the information is not mentioned anywhere in their web pages or you can’t find it anywhere else, it probably isn’t true. Most scientific publications require quite the unaffordable amount of money and access to them is difficult, but the article titles can be, at least, read online and there are many scientific people who divulge such information. They ALWAYS tell you where to find the information or how to unproove it.

Second.

Fun fact. Humans DO NOT CARE ABOUT THE TRUTH. We like gossip. If it is exciting or outrageous… Beware. Think who is making a profit out of the idea and double check. We know the media ( yes, social media and the news) help to invent and spread fake news no matter how many filters Facebook or X apply. Science, the real science, is not as promoted as gossip in media and unfortunately it is sometimes, banned from being monetized. Why unfortunately? Because blogs cost money. Video production cost money. Everything costs money. Gossip makes more money than any other serious thing and it is a VERY serious business.

Third.

Look at the URL. Companies and universities use URLs that contain the name of the company or university. Fake news like to use links that have no relation at all with the «original domain». So check the URL.

I hope this was enough to guide you in the midst of the media avalanche of everyday. You can, also, stop reading news or watching news (disconnection is possible). Pasto kalo.