The recent fear of a deadly virus known as “coronavirus” has caused many people to look into ways to double-check the information they read online. There are several different ways to do this, and we are going to discuss most of them in this article. These ways will help you debunk coronavirus conspiracy theories quite easily.
One of the easiest ways is to go to a search engine such as Google and type in “COVID-19” or “coronavirus” to find the latest news on the Internet. This should bring up any articles or websites mentioning the term “coronavirus.”
In most cases, if you search for the word “coronavirus,” the results will be websites discussing that particular virus. However, there’s both credible and biased information online; you have to take extra care of the results you get. The chances are that you’ll receive both true and false information. And some of the pieces of information will include coronavirus conspiracy theories. So, here’s how you verify every single bit of information that you receive through the internet:
Confirm With Genuine Mainstream Media
Look for major news networks like CNN, Fox News, BBC, and the likes. Generally, whenever something newsworthy happens that is related to the flu outbreak, there will be a lot of buzzing around the Internet.
At times, links to articles and websites talk about the latest buzz surrounding this particular disease’s treatment methods. It is highly likely that the person linking to that article on his or her own website is posting false information. They do this in hopes of increasing the traffic to their site. Therefore, to counteract this, you need to search for links to any news articles or websites mentioning coronavirus. You also need to follow up on any coronavirus conspiracy theories that you read about on these sites. Using credible news sources is a great way to do this confirmation.
Use Genuine Social Media Handles for Credible Sources to Debunk Coronavirus Conspiracy Theories
Additionally, there is a huge problem with how many people are communicating with each other on social media sites. A lot of people seem to be following false posts and tweets regarding coronavirus conspiracy theories.
This is only increasing the misinformation that is floating around out there. For example, many people have started linking to articles discussing how experts predict that this flu will turn into a “super pandemic.”
Look into History of Viruses
While this happened with previous flu cases, it is implausible that this will happen again here. Therefore, to avoid this particular type of misinformation, simply make sure that you check all sources for accurate information. This is especially important if you’re using social media to stay up-to-date on the latest news surrounding this pandemic.
Leverage the Power of Newspapers to Debunk Coronavirus Conspiracy Theories
There’s always the conventional way of seeking information, the traditional newspaper. Unfortunately, not many people seem to be relying on these for their daily news. So, instead of relying on online news sources that you can’t verify easily, why not try turning to newspapers that give you the latest info regarding this pandemic?
Besides, you’ll always be certain that the information you read here isn’t fabricated. Or some clear plot to spread coronavirus conspiracy misinformation. And we’re not saying that newspapers are right all of the time. But the thing is that they have some credibility compared to other awkward sources.
Avoid Using Viral News Sites
Buzzfeed is one of the top places online to find viral information, even about this new flu. This includes everything from links to articles to viral videos about this latest flu scare. However, you can’t always be sure that the information they provide is credible. Besides, other sites trying to rank on Google may spice up their blogs by adding coronavirus conspiracy theories that aren’t really right.
Save Yourself from Unreliable Sources:
We need to ensure that the information we’re looking at is coming from a reliable source. You also need to make sure that the source is always credible. For instance, many sites exist solely to spread false threats and other harmful information. While there may be some legitimate uses for these sites, the overall goal is to prevent the public from accessing stale and inaccurate information.
Final Thoughts
You can double-check coronavirus information online and offline so that you know for sure that the data is accurate. Using the sources we’ve mentioned above is great for a start. Because you can always tell what’s the truth and what’s pure lies.
There are a lot of coronavirus conspiracy theories spreading like wildfire. Avoid jumping into the bandwagon of people who just read and spread anything that they find online. In short, choose to be different and always confirm what you read online before sharing. It all starts with you and me.