Overview
There's a good chance you've come across an Instagram post featuring the word "Fact" followed by a wild claim like "Lack of sleep can cause your brain to eat itself.” While eye-catching and funny, these "fact" pages often contain misinformation which by definition is the opposite of factual! Even posts with some truth are often missing important context. These pages may appear in your news feed even if you do not follow the user. Students will learn to identify these types of sites on social media, and understand how to fact-check them.
These lessons was developed by PBS NewsHour Student Reporting Labs in partnership with MediaWise and the Teen Fact-Checking Network , which are part of the Poynter Institute . This partnership has been made possible with support from Google.”
Objectives
Students will be able to answer the questions:
- What are “fact” pages on social media?
- How can I identify “fact” pages?
- Why should the information on these sites be fact-checked before sharing it?
- How can I identify promoted content?
Subjects
English, ELA, social studies, journalismGrade Levels
Grades 6-12Supplemental Links
Standards
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Common Core
Delineate a speaker’s argument and specific claims, evaluating the soundness of the reasoning and relevance and sufficiency of the evidence and identifying when irrelevant evidence is introduced.
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Common Core: History and Social Studies
9-10.RH.1. Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources, attending to such features as the date and origin of the information.
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ISTE
Digital Citizenship
Students recognize the rights, responsibilities and opportunities of living, learning and working in an interconnected digital world, and they act and model in ways that are safe, legal and ethical. (
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Analyze the legal and ethical responsibilities required in the arts, audio/visual technology and communications workplace.
KEY VOCABULARY
- Instagram “fact” pages — Instagram sites with posts that show a photo or video referencing pop culture, sports or history with a wild fact about the topic. They are sometimes completely false and often are missing important context or supporting evidence.
- Missing context — a clip or an excerpt of an authentic statement, photo or video that is presented in a misleading way so that it seems to mean something different than what was intended.
- Keyword Search — words and phrases that users type into search engines to find information on a particular topic.
- “Promoted” content — advertising model in which companies pay to have their social media content displayed in everyday social media users’ news feeds.
WARM UP QUESTIONS
Watch the MediaWise Teen-Fact Checking Network (TFCN) video and answer the questions about Instagram “fact” pages. According to the video…
- What percentage of teens get their news from social media?
- Why might you see posts in your Instagram feed even if you do not follow the user?
- What types of posts does Instagram’s algorithm promote? Describe an example from the video.
- What was the missing context in the Instagram “fact” post about “ugly laws” in Chicago?
- What are three things you can do to spot questionable “fact” pages on Instagram?
FOCUS QUESTIONS
- Why do a majority of teens get their news from social media? Why can that be problematic?
- Why would extreme or surprising content in your newsfeed tend to “turn off” the brain’s critical thinking filter?
- The example in the video about the “ugly laws” in Chicago was found to be missing context. How can sensational social media posts with missing context cause misinformation to spread?
- Why is it important to know if content in your social media newsfeed is “promoted”?
- How do you feel about “promoted” content appearing in your newsfeed?
IF YOU WANT TO GO DEEPER
Watch this MediaWise TikTok
- What keywords did the fact-checker use to find more information?
- What was the missing context causing this sensational post to spread as misinformation?
The Teen-Fact Checking Network listed several “Fact” pages that post regularly. Pick one and evaluate one of their posts using the media literacy tools in this lesson. Some example users:
- @factsuntold
- @blowingfact
- @factsdaily
BACKGROUND READING
- Poynter: (2019) Instagram ‘fact’ pages make money through misinformation…
- Snopes: Did some cities in the United States have ‘ugly laws’ to keep disabled people off the streets?
These lessons were developed by PBS NewsHour Student Reporting Labs in partnership with MediaWise and the Teen Fact-Checking Network, which are part of the Poynter Institute. This partnership has been made possible with support from Google.
