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How do you distinguish fact from fiction?

In the chaotic carnival of social media, where facts and fiction tango like they’re at a masquerade ball, it’s high time we don our critical thinking glasses and start questioning whether that viral meme is a truth bomb or just a glittering pile of nonsense.
How do you distinguish fact from fiction? Image: Agence Olloweb / Unsplash
Daily Maverick Connect
By Daily Maverick Connect
7 Oct 2025
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In a world flooded with information, we are all being challenged to think critically about the information we consume and to seek out credible, verified sources. How do you personally navigate the flood of information on social media to distinguish fact from fiction? Have you ever found yourself or someone you know falling for an online conspiracy theory? And what can we do, as a community, to encourage responsible information sharing? Let's open up the conversation.

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Comments (8)

Lucius Casca Oct 7, 2025, 04:27 PM

Not following the DM editorial, opionistas, and their "sources" is already a good start.. Paying this biased outlet only to support the odd moment of true journalism by the Pieter-Louis Myburghs and Paulie van Wyks feels like a waste truly..

kanu sukha Oct 8, 2025, 02:19 AM

Sounds a little like bloated or exaggerated cynicism. "Odd moment" .. hyperbole based on some vague and misguided Trumpian sense of superiority ? Sure there may be some fairly 'misguided' stuff .. but taking into account 'readers' varied sense of 'relevant' or high value issues .. doing reasonably O.K. methinks. Just a dummy's perspective though!

Lucius Casca Oct 8, 2025, 08:04 AM

I don't know how you made a Trumpian superiority connection from my post..but you touch exactly on what I mean: "readers varied sense of relevant or high value issues", we never see a variety of views on these issues, whether it's US politics, climate issues, social issues, Gaza..even the the cartoon strips are always the same angle lol. Don't get me wrong I have no problem with bias, it's DM's prerogative, but then be transparent about it rather than blatantly applying it whilst maintaining that you are objective. DM's slogan of "Defending Truth" seems as cringey as the Washington Post's "Democracy dies in darkness".

Ed Rybicki Oct 8, 2025, 07:34 PM

Sigh…why do you bother to read DM, then? Surely it would be much easier to ignore it, than to bother commenting? Xwitter is waiting!! Thousands of like-minded folk in the now truly right-wing echo chamber!! ?

Lucius Casca Oct 9, 2025, 06:05 AM

Because I actually want to support a credible, balanced SA news agency and I don't mind interacting with left-leaning people. Seems like you are the softy that wants a safe space eh? Must be tough..

Ed Rybicki Oct 9, 2025, 09:04 AM

Not tough at all: I LIKE the DM, as I used to like the M&amp;G before it became too turgidly tiresome to read. I used to like the conservative opinioneer that wrote regularly for Newsweek - George Will - because he made sense. Rabid hate-mongers and sensationalist purveyors of falsehoods like Fox News, however - not so much.

Roger Scholtz Oct 8, 2025, 07:21 AM

I pay attention to who the author or podcaster is and their track record. Have I read or heard them before? Any piece by an unfamiliar name, and certainly any unattributable info, I consume very carefully. Not foolproof of course as the disinformation machine is getting more sophisticated, but there is something comforting that in our increasingly AI and bot-shaped digital world, verifiable human identity and proven human integrity remain our best safeguards for what can be trusted.

Lucius Casca Oct 8, 2025, 08:12 AM

I can agree with this..but it also depends on the context of their report i.e is it news or is it their view on the news.

Leon Groenveld Oct 8, 2025, 02:14 PM

There is only your view on the news, I fear.

Leon Groenveld Oct 8, 2025, 07:04 PM

Just as explanation for the statement above: I watched BBC, CNN, Sky, Al Jazeera and RT ( briefly ) as Russia invaded. Quite easy, as they are right adjacent on the DSTV " bouquet ".This was news reported in real time. It was also news as the agencies reporting it thought it was supposed to be. Absolutely fascinating to watch but not to be confused with " The Truth " , whatever that may have been at that moment. The Eye of the Beholder stretches far.

Stuart Hulley-Miller Oct 8, 2025, 08:51 AM

I don't know why but I spend my life being annoyed with Maverick's opinions, irritated by their lack of any deep understanding of important issues, threatening to myself to cancel my subscription ....... but never doing so. I need to concentrate a bit on this.

Stuart Hulley-Miller Oct 8, 2025, 08:51 AM

I don't know why but I spend my life being annoyed with Maverick's opinions, irritated by their lack of any deep understanding of important issues, threatening to myself to cancel my subscription ....... but never doing so. I need to concentrate a bit on this.

megapode Oct 8, 2025, 09:24 AM

IT depends what's at stake. If somebody is telling me that Knopfler is a better guitarist than Clapton well you say potato &amp; I say po-tah-to &amp; so what? If you want me to believe there are 15 million illegal immigrants in SA then I'd like to see some plausible data please. "Plausible" is not a screenshot of a tweet saying the same thing you're saying. Or I will fact check &amp; come to my own conclusions, but the burden of constant fact checking is large.

Lucius Casca Oct 9, 2025, 07:54 AM

I am ambivalent about this.. Clapton is the better lead player however, Knopfler is the superior finger picker. Money for nothing has to be one of the greatest licks ever composed.

megapode Oct 8, 2025, 09:31 AM

There are two things. The first is to know what your doctrine/beliefs are built on. Don't just go around talking about Marxism (for EG) but understand it's foundations. I know a surprising number of people who identify as "Christian" but have little idea what's in the Bible. You can bamboozle those guys easily. The other thing is to do the same for the guys on the other side. Study the foundations of what they believe so you can spot their stuff easily. This takes time.

kanu sukha Oct 9, 2025, 03:34 PM

Donald Trump is a 'Christian' &amp; even carried a bible aloft in his hand, during his first term, when he led a 'march' to a location in front of a church near the W/H! Gen. Milley was amongst those who 'followed' him on that day, but realised he had been duped &amp; shortly after released a statement to the effect, .. about swearing allegiance to the constitution.. &amp; not any person. Biden even 'pardoned' him so that the current 'Comey' situation would not arise. TACO has made the bible GA!

megapode Oct 8, 2025, 09:39 AM

There should be an onus on the sources as well. All of them should clearly indicate if a piece is reportage (a thing happened), analysis (the implications of what happened) or opinion (what somebody thinks about something - preferably that is actually happening) and keep them separate. This doesn't chill anybody's tongue, but does allow us to sift facts from (hopefully expert) opinion. "MSM" are better at this, but not all of them. "Content creators" too often blur those boundaries.

Ed Rybicki Oct 8, 2025, 07:43 PM

It is rather amazing that the most regular commentariat for DM articles is a coterie of apparently right-aligned and irascible older people - probably retirees with time on their hands. Unlike folk who like Fox News, then, I rely on BBC World, CNN and occasionally Al Jazeera for actual news, and NYT and DM and SOMETIMES WaPo for comment on the news. Anything Trump and his sockpuppet VC and Press Secretary say I reject out of hand. So too Netanyahu and any Israeli government mouthpiece.

kanu sukha Oct 9, 2025, 03:50 PM

"Israeli government mouthpiece." is rather specific/limited. With the help of AIPAC &amp; similar institutions/operations, entire mainstream news networks have been infiltrated &amp; co-opted ! Just slightly more subtly, but still apparent now, when you listen to the word/s choice gymnastics being employed, during a livestreamed genocide. Reference Assal Rad analyses. 'they' have had decades of 'experience' in doing so .. quite effectively to boot, especially with 'western' audiences.

kanu sukha Oct 9, 2025, 04:05 PM

The heading (title) is quite misleading. Not just fact or fiction .. but half fact and part fiction is the real challenge !