It’s true: “fake news” is the order of the day. So much the order of the day that you can’t trust anyone to deal with sensitive issues. And when I say no one, I mean no one: the media, the verification agencies … Everyone follows their interests and it is difficult for them to correct their information when they are wrong, and even if they are wrong, it is usually not out of honesty, transparency or birth of their own free will .

Of course, there are exceptions and it all depends on the nature of the information and the context. But when I start this little “trick / reminder” like this, it’s because I don’t like it fake news, misinformation, etc. is just what they say about themselves. And we have a lot of recent examples, both from self-proclaimed verification agencies and from the general media, which are supposed to be serious.

However, this record does not deny one or the other, but to something as simple as drawing a picture those who are posted on social networks and who can be outraged by those who see them. Images that in many cases serve to illustrate messages with which they do not correspond. For example, the personification of people, specific events, wars, etc. With how easy it is in general to check that they are not stealing from us.

The most basic method of browsing images is to use the Google search engine. Are you frightened by the image you saw on the internet and want to see if it fits into the context in which you saw it? Go to Google Image Search and enter a URL or upload an image for the spell to work.

Next, check the image results for “All sizes»And if you can’t find or few matches, check also«visually similar images«. It is from these images that you will have access to the pages where they were published to verify that the context and data are correct.

Google is not always right, either because the image you are looking for does not have known matches indexed by Google, or because the image has been retouched to the point that it has resulted in inconsistent results. It’s not a perfect method, far from it. But the most common thing is that it will take you a few seconds or a maximum of minutes before you can share on the networks and increase its “disinformation” effect, before you check whether the image that outraged you is true.

And keep in mind that Bing, Microsoft’s search engine that works quite well, has a similar function.

BTW: This method, which many people know well but ignores so much (that’s why we consider it MC Basics), serves other less commendable purposes, such as finding images you like in better resolution, similar images, but without copyright rights, etc..