I read it online and I even saw a photo.

A photo!

It must be true, right?

Wrong. Turns out sometimes the news you find

on the Internet isn't real.

It's what we call fake news.

Sometimes the story starts as a joke

and then somebody takes it seriously and it spreads.

But why would anybody waste their time

inventing a fake news story?

It's click bait.

The more people click on an interesting sounding story,

the more people will see the ads on that web page

and that equals money

and sometimes people just want to spread their own ideas

or beliefs without backing them up with any facts at all.

Vote for me and I'll turn all rivers and ice cream by 2020.

That's a promise.

You mean that's not true?

I read that one online, like, a week ago!

Oh I love ice cream.

So, how can you tell if a news story is fake?

I know this one.

Watch out for: no eyewitnesses,

or quotes, and phony experts in a story,

pictures that might have been photo shopped,

headlines written in capital letters

with lots of exclamation points.

Yep, that's right.

Those things are all good indicators that the story

you're reading is fake.

Here's a few more.

Lots of pop ups and banner ads.

Lots of broken links.

No authors name and incomplete information

in the About Us section of the website.

Also, check the date the story was written.

Is this just an old story that's been recycled?

Are any other major websites reporting the same thing?

If not, the story probably isn't real.

And check the website address.

Fake URL's usually try to copy real websites,

often by adding unnecessary words and domains.

A basic rule of thumb...

..if you aren't sure that a story is real, don't share it.

Hey, look!

the banana company is giving away free bPhones.

All I have to do is share this article with 500

of my friends and I could get a free--

Oh. Right.

[sighs]

Both: Fake news.

♪ [light]