Do you believe the information before you?

This article asks do you believe the information before you. We attempt to cover some pointers to look out for when reading articles on line — or talking to people who are trying to convince you of something. Watching someone on YouTube telling you giant marshmallow monsters run the world. Of course, we are not saying they don’t and it would explain a few things.

Fake news

In this age of deliberately faked news, it is sensible to never depend on just information gathered from Google and the like. Especially if you are conducting Competitive Intelligence and your reputation is on the line. Fake news is not new. It’s as old as time. Adam and Eve in the bible suffered the consequences of Adam believing a talking snake about the advantages of eating an apple.

Regardless of the perceived authenticity or authority of the information you have found, you always should attempt to verify. Here are some questions that may assist with your verification:

1. Do you know a knowledgeable person who would know if the information was correct?
2. Does the information appear in a single website our does similar information exist?
3. Are there any signs of exaggerated statements such as “I am told this is no joke or “Take it or leave it” or “This is the real deal”?
4. Is there a desire by the author for the reader to pass the information on?
5. Can you verify any of the names in a document. Those quoted and the person who wrote it?
6. Are references to organisations absolutely right? There are plenty of acronyms in the world; most of us speed-read them if we have seen them before. Are they correct?
7. Are there any venues and locations in the information? Should there be? Do they exist?
8. Is the creative author terminology to make the piece sound more credible? Are there any misspellings in the text and how old is the web page?

And finally

So next time you come across a talking snake; hopefully, you will be better prepared to ignore his fake apple news. This article asked do you believe the information before you. We attempted to cover some pointers to look out for when reading articles online — or to talking to someone trying to convince you.

About Octopus Intelligence

Octopus is a global Intelligence service company. Answering the questions to help you grow.

We help brands and investors like yourself reimagine how you can beat your competitors, make more money, be disruptive, and enter new markets. Enabling you to grow faster with more certainty with Competitive Intelligence, Due Diligence and good old common sense. We live in an increasingly uncertain, competitive and ever-shifting world. What you need is active real-world strategy. Where deep expertise combines with Competitive Intelligence based actions. To answer the what and the how, for the now and the next.