Evaluating Websites & Internet Sources

Check Your Feed with SIFT (the four moves - Stop, Investigate, Find, Trace)

STOP: 

• Take a breath, check your reaction, pause, re-evaluate.
• Ask yourself if you are certain the information is true.
• Don't re-post, use, or share until you verify. 

INVESTIGATE: 

• Look at the source. Who created the information?
• Look into who is behind the post and think about why they might post that information.
• Try looking on a fact-checking site, Wikipedia, or Google for the name, company, organization, story, or publisher. 
• Learn about the expertise, education, and/or the agenda of the producer of the information.

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 FIND BETTER COVERAGE:

• If checking the source brings you to a questionable place, try looking in some other sources for similar information.
• Look beyond the first few results.
• Check in at least 3 different places.
• If the information shows up in several reliable places, it is likely to be accurate.

TRACE CLAIMS, QUOTES & MEDIA TO THE ORIGINAL CONTENT & CONTEXT:

• Trace the content back to the original source.
• Check the full context of the information -- was something left out or not included?