Answer:
Currency: Is this a recent article? Many articles shared on social media are older articles that may relate to current events. If the article is not recent, the claims may no longer be relevant or have been proven wrong.
Relevance: Is the article relevant? While some articles may appear to be addressing a current topic, you must read past the headline and determine the relevancy of the content for your purposes.
Authority: Who is the author? Has the author written other articles on the same or similar topic? What are the author's credentials? What is the domain of the website? Many websites these days mimic the legitimate source, take the time to look carefully. Is the source a blog or a news source? Is the website satirical or a hoax?
Accuracy: Is this article from an unbiased source? Can the content be verified by multiple sources? If it appears in only one publication with no links to sources, it is very likely to be inaccurate. This is particularly important with images that are shared widely across social media.
Purpose: Does this article provoke an emotional response? The intent of a valid news sources is to inform. While an emotional response to specific information is to be expected, inaccurate news articles are often written for the sole purpose of provoking anger, outrage, fear, happiness, excitement or confirmation of ones' own beliefs.
Step-by-step explanation:
This is how you evaluate digital news sources