Thread by @AlexaVolland

I've been receiving a lot of questions about how parents should be talking to their teens about #misinformation related to the #election. At @mediawise, I lead our Teen Fact-Checking Network, and I work with teens daily to debunk viral claims. Here are some tips

First, a look at what my teens are flagging. We're seeing a lot of out-of-context photos and memes, manipulated videos and screenshots lacking context taken from one platform and posted to another. Here are some tips you can give your teen (and use yourself):

First, have them question how the post makes them feel. Outraged? Shocked? Disgusted? Posts that are designed to spark an intense emotional reaction *could* be misinformation.

The big takeaway here is that misinformation isn't always so blatantly obvious. So don't reshare on gut reaction alone.

For photos, have your teen do a reverse image search. If they've seen @CatfishMTV, I promise they know how to do this. We've seen a lot of outdated photos being resurfaced, and a quick image search is the easiest way to see if a photo is old or used in the wrong context.

Next, have your teen ask themselves these 3 questions (developed by @SHEG_Stanford) whenever they see something online they aren't sure about:
1⃣Who is behind the information?
2⃣What is the evidence?
3⃣What are other sources saying?
Here's a video I produced to help:

Next, have them practice a skill called "Lateral Reading" (another @SHEG_Stanford term). Teens tend to read one article vertically and move on -- instead, have them open up multiple tabs and read across all of them for full context.

Now, for some basics. There are plenty of super well designed and completely BOGUS news sites out there. To determine if a website is a good source, have them check out the "About" page -- do they list editorial standards? Do they have bylines? List corrections? Include labels?

I'm often asked: "Should parents be worried about the things their teens see online?" Sure -- but I'd be way more worried about what they come across online if we aren't arming them with the tools to discern what's true and false.

But please, talk to your teens about misinformation. Yes, they are digital natives. But #medialiteracy skills are something that's taught.