Digital Literacy Unit Created by Mike Fink

Make a list of three ridiculous headlines you’ve seen on the internet. Who do you think might click those links? Quick Write:

Clickbait Clickbait is content designed to get people to click on a link to a particular web page. The more traffic a webpage gets, the more money the owner makes from advertisements. It is often harmless and is sometimes factual.

Clickbait Activity: Let’s look at some examples of clickbait as a class. As we examine the clickbait headlines, we’ll work to create a list of common clickbait tactics. http://www.teachfakenews.com/clickbait/

Components of Clickbait Surprising Pictures Strange Stories Food Extreme Language “When she, I , he , they , or you….” Health Scary Stuff Money Lists Exaggeration “I’m speechless, shocked, amazed.”

Let’s create a clickbait headline for this image. Consider who your audience is. What might make them click this link? Example for a target audience of parents: “His parents thought he was lost, their reaction had me crying for hours…”

Your Turn: Create clickbait headlines for the following images. Be sure to keep your target audience in mind.

The examples of clickbait that we’ve looked at so far are amusing and mostly harmless. Unfortunately, there is a new form of clickbait online that has many people concerned.

Make a list of three interesting things that you or your friends have shared on social media. Why interested you about what was shared? Quick Write:

What makes a story interesting or newsworthy?

Impact How much of an effect will the topic of the story have on those reading it?

Prominence Are there any celebrities involved?

Proximity Did the story take place near where you live?

Conflict Is there a disagreement or argument in the story?

Emotional Connections Does this story appeal to your emotions? Does it make you feel happy, angry, or sad?

Oddity Does anything out of the ordinary or strange happen in the story?

What makes a story newsworthy? Impact Oddity Emotional Connections Conflict Prominence Proximity These are some of the factors that news organizations consider when deciding what to publish. Let’s take a look at some news stories and identify their newsworthy factors.

What makes a story newsworthy? Impact Oddity Emotional Connections Conflict Prominence Proximity

What makes a story newsworthy? Marine Adopts Stray Dog He Found in Afghanistan What makes a story newsworthy? Impact Oddity Emotional Connections Conflict Prominence Proximity

What makes a story newsworthy? Impact Oddity Emotional Connections Conflict Prominence Proximity

Working with a partner, try and find a news story online that contains at least four newsworthy components. Be prepared to share what you’ve found with the class. Activity

While looking for your articles online, did you find any stories that were fake? How were you able to tell?

The Problem The people creating clickbait have begun creating “fake news” stories. These stories can be hard to identify. In fact, one of the three news stories we previously looked at was fake news. Were you able to tell? Fake news stories are created using newsworthy factors instead of clickbait tactics. Fake news stories are shared on social media thousands of times a day.

So how do we identify fake news? Some fake news stories are easier to spot than others. The creators of fake news sometimes create entire websites that look like real news sites. The fake news story from “National Report” is a perfect example of this. It’s important to have a method for determining what’s real and what isn’t on the web.

The S.T.A.C.S Method Site 01 Title 02 Author 03 Content 04 Sources 05

Site Some internet scammers create websites with similar names to legitimate sites. Make sure you’re on the correct website. Different website endings mean different things: .com = company .org = organization (can be for profit) .gov = government organization .edu = educational institution (can be students) .net = a network, common for tech companies Legitimate websites should work smoothly. You shouldn’t find broken links or be bombarded with ads.

Title The title of a real news story shouldn’t contain many clickbait tactics. A proper title shouldn’t be designed to make you feel emotional. Take note of the newsworthy components mentioned in the title.

Author Authors of real stories want to be able to be identified. If the author is unfamiliar to you, type the author’s name into a search engine to find more of their work. Is the author trying to get you to think a certain way about a certain product? Be wary of the author’s motivations.

Content Reliable news stories are written in a formal tone and shouldn’t contain mistakes. If the information in the story is impactful, you should be able to find a similar story somewhere else.

Sources Reliable news stories contain links to sources or similar content. Primary sources help to establish credibility. Many real news stories utilize primary sources. If the primary source in the article is a scientist or politician, type their name into a search engine to verify who they are.

Your turn! Complete the assignment to prove whether the news stories provided are real or fake.