Tools for verifying and assessing the validity of social media and user-generated content

“Interesting if true” is the old line about some tidbit of unverified news. Recast as “Whoa, if true” for the Twitter age, it allows people to pass on rumors without having to perform even the most basic fact-checking — the equivalent of a whisper over a quick lunch. Working journalists don’t have such luxuries, however, even with the continuous deadlines of a much larger and more competitive media landscape. A cautionary tale was the February 2015 report of the death of billionaire Martin Bouygues, head of a French media conglomerate. The news was instantly echoed across the Web, only to be swiftly retracted: The mayor of the village next to Bouygues’s hometown said that “Martin” had died. Alas, it was the wrong one. – See more HERE:

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