If we can authenticate the source and find it trustworthy, this may be sufficient to trust the content and mark is a verified depending on context. The process of verifying social media data thus requires a two-step process: the authentication of the source as reliable and the triangulation of the content as valid. In other words, it is the plethora and virtual anonymity of sources that makes us skeptical of the content they deliver. If every source we monitored in the social media space was known and trusted, then the need for verification would not be as pronounced. Feel free to also add links to other studies on verifying social media content. So here is the Google Doc version of this blog post, please feel free to add your best practices and ask others to contribute.
We need to build and accumulate our shared knowledge in information forensics. It’s high time that we start compiling our tips and tricks into an online how-to-guide so that we don’t have to start from square one every time the question comes up. I get this question all the time: “How do you verify social media data?” This question drives many of the conversations on crowdsourcing and crisis mapping these days. Update: I have authored a 20+ page paper on verifying social media content based on 5 case studies.
