When scrolling on Instagram like i do every night, I saw an interesting post that was suggested by Instagram for me.

This post caught my eye as an Apple user. It’s been some time since Apple included a charger and, even longer, wired headphones so i immediately thought this would be a post i needed to check its validity to determine if its true.

To determine if this post is true, I’ll be using Rumor Guard’s factors.I think the Factors they use give a good sense of how to determine how true something is. They do a good job of explaining what each factor is and even link videos going into more detail.

Is it authentic? No, this isn’t a photo posted by Apple or an Apple affiliated account. The photo is clearly a edited phone showing a mix of images together with a caption claiming words spoken by John Ternus the new Apple CEO.

Has it been posted or confirmed by a credible source? No, looking into BusinessEdgeX you find its Instagram account is connected to a Linkedin where they state they “attract an engaged audience”. They also claim they can promote you if you DM them. The only other post is from Hoops carve which is a self claimed Parody & Satire account. We could stop here as it appears to be a repost of a parody’s account post.

Is there evidence that proves the claim? No, there was no evidence for this post to be true. The post doesn’t link to any evidence like a speech or press release.

Is the context accurate? No, Apple announced in 2020 the removal of headphones and chargers to reduce carbon emissions. This post is the opposite of what Apple has put out itself. the only thing true is that Apple has a new CEO.

Is it based on solid reasoning? No, headphones have become an extremely popular item to buy; even Apple has multiple headphone options. Chargers are not USB-C which is a universal charger so new Apple devices would be able to charge on users’ existing chargers. There would be no reason for Apple to give away free headphones and chargers anymore.

Conclusion: False post. There were many red flags, the first of which was whether it had been confirmed. It was in fact confirmed not by a credible source but by a parody account. In every factor, the post failed. There is no credible claim that the new CEO of Apple said anything about including headphones and/or chargers with purchases. The Rumor Guard Factors method for debunking misinformation was a very easy method to employ here that uses lateral reading to determine if a post is true. It’s important to check posts like these. At first I was surprised because they haven’t given free headphones in a long time, and I could use an extra pair, so I was intrigued by this post. But since I am an Apple user, my suspicion hit right away, thinking that it was false because why would a large company like Apple give away anything for free when profit is what really matters.

Rumor Guard

Is the post real or fake? Too many people today are making social media posts that are 100% false but present them as real. There are many people trying to help filter the real from the fake. Rumorguard.org is one of those trying to help.  

This site takes new popular posts and applies a simple 5-question test to each of them. Is it authentic? Has it been posted or confirmed by a credible source? Is there evidence that proves the claim? Is the context accurate? Is it based on solid reasoning?. These 5 questions tell them if something is real or is it a rumor. When you read an article, these are the things each of us should be saying to ourselves to determine if something is real. This is extremely effective at teaching people how to figure out if it’s real. Take this post about Trump. It explains what they got for each of the 5 questions in this case against an altered image of Trump. They were able to check the sources the post claimed the photos came from, and it doesn’t exist. This is something each of us could do, so i think its effectiveness at teaching is huge since it explains its reasoning for why something is fake.

I think this site is an extremely effective tool to help eradicate misinformation. It’s a very fast check to see if something is real; it only takes a few seconds to determine

Get Bad News

I played all the games and didn’t like any of them… the last one I did, I went the furthest: “Get bad news”. This site is a game where you are trying to spread false information and make it as real as possible to get the most followers out of it. It gives options to post, and if you want, you can skip a few to get the most emotional response possible to gain the most followers from it.

This is a decent teaching aid. I think one of the worst issues with this is that it’s not meant for our age. This game feels more geared towards toes in middle or high school, maybe in a school class about misinformation. There is a lot of plot for a game that is teaching misinformation. I would have found a game where you point out why something is misinformation as a better alternative. These games are just too boring to play. Taking away from its educational value.

While I may not like the game I do think there is value in it. A younger age may be able to learn effectively how misinformation is made which will help end its spread.  There is a European article that is all about countering disinformation through games. One of the most important aspects was that it should be neutral and not try to sway the player toward an ideal. 

5:20AM: Woke up and checked X for any news overnight. Saw there were leaks for GTA6. Pretty interesting that someone is leaking the game, as it’s extremely popular, and Rockstar, the producers of the game, has had a tight lid on it. But the real question is this true? Did someone steal the game from Rockstar or hack into them to get the game and leak it, or is this just an elaborate plan to promote their game by making a false narrative that someone is leaking the game? All while this is their plan to promote the game prior to its release? This could be just one huge misinformation propaganda to make the game even more famous than it already is. i think you can tell what side of this thought i am on…..

11:00AM: Watched some TikTok and Instagram reels during lunch. Nothing of note, just random videos, a mix of people singing and video game playthroughs.

4:00PM: Got home and watched the new Episode of Silo on Apple TV. In love with this show right now; every episode is ending in a cliffhanger. I’m itching to buy the books the show is based on, but really want the show to finish first before I read the book. This show digs into misinformation a lot. They are stuck in a missile silo and have no memory of before. They have a rule book, but it doesn’t explain why some of the rules are a thing, like they can’t mine more than 200 feet horizontally. While I don’t know the truth, these people believe going more than 200 feet is like falling off the earth if you sail too far because it’s flat. The misinformation is coming from a lack of information.

5:20PM: Started watching Lanterns, the new show based on Green Lantern from DC Comics. Pretty good show, the genre looks to be a crime mystery show. Rotten Tomatoes score was pretty good with a 94%.

9:30PM: End of my day, watched some YouTube videos before going to sleep. Sailing Parlay Revival had a new episode out that I haven’t watched. They were installing a lightning rod of sorts on their mast. It’s a family that owns a catamaran and sails around. somehow there always doing some work or repairs on their boat.

Reflection: I don’t normally think when I use media if it’s misinformation or not, so this was interesting. The very first thing I noticed was about the GTA6 leaks. Was it a real leak, was it the company that leaked its own stuff, or was it all a lie? It’s such a hard question to answer. I think a good tool to help validate information is AI. I find myself a lot of times googling to check if there are multiple sources for information, but at times it’s just too hard to figure out, so I throw the question into AI, as ChatGPT could help with determining if it’s true or not. X has community notes to help with misinformation, but you also see all the time people will @ Grok, which is XAI, to let them know if something is real or not. I do think I’m more inclined to check things I see on social media from people, but if its a orginization like CNN or FOX News, I tend to not factcheck thinking that a journalist wrote it, so it’s already checked.

29 Years: 10,769 Days.

why is it the older we get, we still feel like its not that old?