3. Asking the right questions

Have you ever been convinced by information that later turned out to be untrue? Maybe you even passed it on to someone else, believing it came from a reliable source? Some stories and videos on the internet are clearly untrue but in other cases, it may not be so clear-cut and you are unsure whether to believe what you see or hear. How can you know what is reliable or not?

It is worthwhile doing a search to find out more about the persons who produced and published information you find online, their background, who they are linked with (for example, particular professional or political groups) and what they do and say online.

It helps to know what questions to ask of what you read or see or hear online. There are various frameworks that provide you with a good starting point. Here are two that The United Kingdom Open University has come up with, CAN and PROMPT. The abbreviations are designed to help you remember the criteria when you need them.

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Last modified: Wednesday, 13 February 2019, 5:48 PM