Shownotes
In this insightful episode of Money Talk with Tiff, host Tiffany Grant delves into the critical topic of evaluating the reliability of information and advice provided by social media gurus, especially concerning financial decisions. Tiffany provides practical tips on how to fact-check sources and verify data to prevent falling for misinformation—particularly emphasizing the case of a viral claim about a major bank's alleged financial woes.
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Timestamps
[00:00] Tiffany's Take: Fact-checking social media gurus.
[03:57] Questioning funding source and credibility of information.
[06:47] Check various sources before believing any story.
[12:06] Be critical and skeptical, and do your research.
Key Points
- Trace the Original Source: Always verify the authenticity of the information by tracing it back to the original source, ensuring it is not simply secondhand information.
- Check the Author’s Credibility: Investigate the motives and background of the content creator. For instance, a self-proclaimed financial guru pushing for certain financial products may have an underlying agenda.
- Verify with Reputable Sources: Cross-check claims with reputable sources to confirm their validity. If only one obscure source is making a dramatic claim, it’s worth being skeptical.
- Use Fact-Checking Websites: Utilize platforms like Snopes or FactCheck.org to verify widespread rumors or claims.
- Assess the Evidence: Evaluate if the information is backed by data, expert quotes, or credible research rather than mere opinions.
- Beware of Misleading Headlines: Sensational headlines often do not accurately reflect the content. Read beyond the headline to understand the true context.
- Consider the Publishing Date and Context: Information might be outdated or taken out of context to push a particular narrative.
Practical Tips
- Tiffany emphasizes the responsibility of social media users to share accurate content and encourages a critical approach to consuming information.
- Encourages listeners to perform their own thorough research before forwarding or acting on sensational news.
Resources
- Popular blog posts on passive income ideas, turning $10,000 into $100,000, and financial literacy in schools
- Snopes - http://www.snopes.com
- FactCheck.org - http://www.factcheck.org
- Poynter Institute's PolitiFact - http://www.politifact.com
- Subscribe, share, and leave a review for the Money Talk with Tiff podcast to support the show and provide valuable feedback.
Remember, stay critical and analytical, especially about the financial advice you consume on social media. Have a great week ahead, and keep your finances in check!
Copyright 2024 Tiffany Grant
This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:
Chartable - https://chartable.com/privacy
Transcripts
You know what it is. That's right. It's time to talk money with your money
Speaker:nerd and financial coach. Now tighten those purse strings
Speaker:and open those ears. It's the money talk with Tiff
Speaker:podcast.
Speaker:Hey, hey, and welcome to another episode of Tiffany's Take, where I
Speaker:answer your questions right here on the podcast. So if you
Speaker:would like your questions answered, go to
Speaker:www.moneytalkwitht.com
Speaker:axtiffany and I'll be more than happy to answer for you. Now,
Speaker:let me forward on and say that I'm not feeling good
Speaker:today, so I'm gonna try to make this short, sweet, and to the
Speaker:point because I know my voice sounds a little,
Speaker:eh, so I don't want to tear up your
Speaker:eardrums too much. But what I want to talk about
Speaker:today, I've been getting a lot of people sending me videos and
Speaker:messages like, is this real? Is this real? And usually they're referring
Speaker:to some social media video or some post that they've seen,
Speaker:and so they're trying to get my take on it. Now, with that being
Speaker:said, most of the ones that I get sent, I'm like,
Speaker:yeah, this is b's, or, yeah, this makes no sense,
Speaker:or this is not true, or half true, or whatever the case may be. So
Speaker:I wanted to take this so to just over some things that
Speaker:I do when I fact check some of these social media
Speaker:gurus on the types of things that they're talking about,
Speaker:and maybe you can do the same on your own.
Speaker:And if there is something that you would like me to investigate a
Speaker:little further or have questions about, just let me know. I'm available
Speaker:in all DM's, my email, what have you. I'm
Speaker:onytalkwitht on all social media platforms, so, and I do answer
Speaker:my own DM's, so I will get you an
Speaker:answer. But with that being said, one of the things that someone
Speaker:sent me just this morning was someone on social media
Speaker:talking about how Wells Fargo is going to go bankrupt
Speaker:and, you know, take all your money out and none of these
Speaker:banks are safe, and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, crypto is the way to go,
Speaker:blah, blah, blah, blah. Okay. Now, with this particular video,
Speaker:upon doing my research, which gets me to my first point, which is
Speaker:trace the original source. As soon as I saw it, I said, okay, let
Speaker:me google some of the stuff that he's saying. Lo and behold,
Speaker:none of it came up. So there's no news articles, there's no
Speaker:insider information out there about it, none of that.
Speaker:So pretty much. He's taking what he thinks is going to happen
Speaker:or what he thinks is happening and putting his own spin on
Speaker:it. So always trace the original source. So if
Speaker:you come across something and it's somebody
Speaker:reporting on something, and I'm doing air quotes or given secondhand
Speaker:summaries or interpretations of what they found in the news or
Speaker:whatever, make sure you go look for it yourself.
Speaker:Always seek out the original source of the information. So
Speaker:find the original article, the study, the report, rather
Speaker:than solely relying on them. Because the thing is, with this particular
Speaker:video in the comment section, people were like, oh,
Speaker:should I move my money? Who is this? I need to follow da da da
Speaker:da da. And everybody's going all in a tizzy on something that's not even
Speaker:true. So just keep that in mind. And this video had
Speaker:hundreds of thousands of views, hundreds and thousands of likes.
Speaker:And so all of these people are now thinking that this is the
Speaker:truth because they haven't done their own due diligence. And so, of course,
Speaker:my comment was like, make sure you all do your own research. And
Speaker:that's why I decided to do this episode today. So, number
Speaker:one, trace the original source. Number two, check the author's
Speaker:credibility. So investigate the author or the organization that's
Speaker:responsible for the content. To give you an example, if you see a report out
Speaker:there and they're saying, oh, make sure that you take your money
Speaker:out of a bank. And the studies show
Speaker:that 60% of people don't believe in the banking system
Speaker:or whatever, right? I'm just pulling stuff out the sky. Is it
Speaker:a credit union that's funding this? Is it the crypto bros.
Speaker:That's funding this? Like, who is funding this information? Who is
Speaker:funding the study? If you see a study and it's like, cigarettes are good
Speaker:for you, and you go and look, and the cigarette
Speaker:companies are the ones that are funding this research,
Speaker:then that's something that will add a different lens to it.
Speaker:That's something that, oh, they actually have a benefit in this study,
Speaker:and so it may or may not be reputable. So always
Speaker:check the author's credibility. So, with this particular video, we'll stay with
Speaker:this one that I'm talking about. I did my research on the guy.
Speaker:Come to find out he's an insurance salesperson, and one of the things that he
Speaker:was saying in the video was, take your money out of the banks
Speaker:and put it in, in universal life
Speaker:policy. For me, that was a red flag. I said, is this guy
Speaker:an insurance agent? Lo and behold, he was so
Speaker:always, always check the author's
Speaker:credibility. Check what it is that they get out of the
Speaker:situation. Are they an expert in the field?
Speaker:Do they have a history of reliable reporting? Evaluating the
Speaker:credibility of the source can provide significant insight into
Speaker:the reliability of the information. Had he not been
Speaker:an insurance agent, and he said that, okay, maybe I'm
Speaker:still going to do some additional research, but me knowing that he is an
Speaker:insurance agent and saying that, I'm like, oh, well, you just want to
Speaker:make some money, you know what I'm saying? Because he was
Speaker:also saying, oh, you know, you should take your money out because
Speaker:investing anything can happen, but not telling people
Speaker:that these life insurance policies are also investing your money.
Speaker:So, yeah, it's just, it's really interesting.
Speaker:So number one, trace the original source. Number two, check the author's
Speaker:credibility. All right? Number three, look for corroboration
Speaker:from other reputable sources. So that's one of the steps that I did. As
Speaker:soon as he started talking, I went straight to Google. I said, are they going
Speaker:bankrupt? Because, I mean, express is, you know, somebody told me that,
Speaker:I looked it up. Lo and behold, there's a bunch of different articles
Speaker:saying how express is going bankrupt. When I searched, well, Wells
Speaker:Fargo this morning, the only things I found was the
Speaker:issues that they had a few years ago when they were making accounts,
Speaker:fraudulent accounts and stuff like that, which he did bring up in the video, which
Speaker:was a true part, but he was making it seem like it was recent. And
Speaker:then that's why they're going bankrupt. And so also beware
Speaker:of that where someone might say something that has
Speaker:a truth in it, but then they're spending it to meet their own
Speaker:needs. So look, look online. Look other
Speaker:places to see if other people are saying this. If the story is true, it's
Speaker:likely that there are other credible media outlets, research
Speaker:institutions, or official organizations that are also reporting on
Speaker:it. Like, when I looked up express, there were lots
Speaker:of articles on it. When I looked up Boston market going out of business, there
Speaker:were lots of articles going in, going on about it. And
Speaker:one thing that this guy said was, I have insider information
Speaker:on this. That should be a red flag, too, because
Speaker:that means he's covering himself. If you go look it up, it's not going to
Speaker:be there, you know? Now, don't get me wrong, there are some people that do
Speaker:have insider information, but like I said, take it
Speaker:with a grain of salt. All right? So number four, use fact checking
Speaker:websites. So there are some fact checking websites that you can
Speaker:use, like Snopes or factcheck.org. Or the
Speaker:Poyntner Institute's politifact if it's something political.
Speaker:But these sites specialize in investigating rumors and verifying the
Speaker:accuracy of widely circulated information. So if it's something that you heard
Speaker:that's widespread, those websites probably have something on
Speaker:it. So check there as well. And you have to realize
Speaker:that journalism is a whole career. There's
Speaker:people that are trained in how to get good information.
Speaker:And so that's why I'm, like, social media gurus and
Speaker:stuff. Even me, I'm like, I'm not a journalist. Like,
Speaker:being a journalist is a whole career. And so I'm not a
Speaker:journalist. But there are people that have spent their lives
Speaker:and dedicated their careers to making sure that people get
Speaker:accurate information. So don't confuse social media
Speaker:gurus, bloggers, and things like that as actual
Speaker:journalists, unless they are. You know what I mean?
Speaker:Because don't get me wrong, I know people that are
Speaker:journalists that also make social media content and things
Speaker:like that. But that goes back to my number
Speaker:two, check the author's credibility, and you can use
Speaker:these fact checking websites to see if they have any information on it, too. Number
Speaker:five, assess the evidence. So, does the post or article provide
Speaker:evidence for its claims? Reliable information is typically supported
Speaker:by data, quotes from experts, or links to research. So be wary
Speaker:of claims based solely on personal anecdotes or unsupported
Speaker:assertions, like this guy was doing in this video. This is all his
Speaker:personal beliefs about things. It had nothing. No
Speaker:data. He didn't mention any data. He didn't mention any quotes from experts.
Speaker:He didn't put any links down in the comment section or anything to where
Speaker:he's getting his information from. It was just all off the top of his
Speaker:dome. And a lot of people do that for engagement. And
Speaker:especially now that everything is monetized, people are
Speaker:just trying to get the money. So be extra careful about
Speaker:anything that you read on these social media platforms. It has gotten
Speaker:infinitely worse. Y'all. Y'all know I've been doing this for a long time. Since
Speaker:2017, I've been a social media influencer, blogger,
Speaker:whatever. And it has been getting worse because
Speaker:people are now just trying to get these checks from these social media
Speaker:companies. So you have to be extra diligent in what you read
Speaker:and consume on these platforms. Okay? So number six,
Speaker:beware of misleading headlines or images. Headlines or images
Speaker:that seem designed to elicit strong emotional reactions are often red
Speaker:flags. And I know you've been there. Sometimes I stumble
Speaker:across them on YouTube, where it's like, you know, saying something that they
Speaker:know you're gonna click on. But when you get to the video has nothing to
Speaker:do with whatever they were talking about. So usually they're
Speaker:intended to mislead or sensationalize the information. So
Speaker:look beyond the headline by reading the full content,
Speaker:checking out the context, and making sure that
Speaker:everything aligns. So if you see something that's good to
Speaker:be true, like, for instance, this guy's video, I think it was
Speaker:called, like, Wells Fargo's going out of business. Get an
Speaker:iul to keep your money safe, be your own bank or something like
Speaker:that. Red flag. Red flag.
Speaker:So, speaking of context, though,
Speaker:number seven, consider the publishing date and the context of
Speaker:what you're reading. So, information might be accurate at one point in
Speaker:time, but it might be outdated by now, or it may have been taken out
Speaker:of context. And I keep picking on the same video, but he's
Speaker:hitting, like, all seven points for me. And so,
Speaker:like I said before, he took a real news thing
Speaker:that happened back in, like, 2017, 2018,
Speaker:and he's carrying it into today and using
Speaker:that to justify why he thinks Wells Fargo is going out of business.
Speaker:Now, don't get me wrong side note, I do not like Wells Fargo
Speaker:personally. I have a history with them. I do not like them,
Speaker:and I do not think that they're a good bank. However,
Speaker:I'm not going to say, well, you should move your money out of Wells
Speaker:Fargo, and they're going bankrupt because of my personal preferences. You know what
Speaker:I mean? So always check the date of publication and
Speaker:consider the current context to ensure that it's relevant
Speaker:and accurate. Okay, so something can be true at one point, but it
Speaker:can be not true the next point. So make sure you take all of that
Speaker:into consideration. So I say all of this to say,
Speaker:whenever you are ingesting anything on social media, or
Speaker:any platform for that matter, even news, take a
Speaker:critical approach. In an era where anyone can be
Speaker:an influencer, anyone could be a publisher,
Speaker:anyone could be a journalist or whatever, it falls on
Speaker:each of us to be discerning consumers and responsible
Speaker:sharers of information. Usually, I don't share something unless
Speaker:I look it up, and there's been situations where
Speaker:I just hit the share button and I have to go back and delete it
Speaker:because I find out something else. So now I'm very, very careful
Speaker:with sharing information on my page if it's not accurate, because,
Speaker:honestly, that is a bad look for me, right? If I'm sharing
Speaker:false information, somebody looks it up and they're like, well, Tiffany,
Speaker:this isn't true, or why are you sharing this? Or whatever? Now it looks bad
Speaker:on me and people might not listen to what I have to say. So I
Speaker:say that to say, always be critical, always be
Speaker:skeptical, always do your own research and that's how you can
Speaker:stay out of trouble. So that's all I have for you today. If you
Speaker:have any questions you want me to answer on the podcast, just go to
Speaker:www.moneytalkwitht.com
Speaker:x tiffany. Also, make sure you all are checking out the blog.
Speaker:There's a ton of information over there. I'm publishing
Speaker:articles pretty regularly, so even if you checked it out before,
Speaker:there's probably some new stuff up there. One of my most popular
Speaker:blog posts is different ways that you can make
Speaker:money. One of my most popular blog posts is 40
Speaker:passive income ideas. Definitely take a look at that.
Speaker:Another one is how to turn 10,000 into
Speaker:100,000. So take a look at that. And then
Speaker:also one more is financial literacy in schools. And
Speaker:I talk about the pros and cons. So definitely check it out.
Speaker:I'll make sure I have all those links in the show notes. But thank you
Speaker:so much for listening to the podcast. Be sure you like subscribe share
Speaker:this episode if you felt that it was helpful. Also make
Speaker:sure you're rating and reviewing the podcast. That's really helpful for
Speaker:us as well. I think right now we're up to like 40 review, 40
Speaker:something reviews. So thank you so much to everybody that has done it.
Speaker:But I know there's so many of you out there that haven't. So please
Speaker:just take some a quick minute to type in something really
Speaker:quick. Let people know what you think of the podcast. Let me know because I
Speaker:read all of them and some of them do get posted on my social media.
Speaker:So if you would like that, please make sure that you are
Speaker:reading and reviewing for me. I appreciate you tuning into me
Speaker:every week, twice a week, on Tuesdays and Thursdays. It means so
Speaker:much to me. So I hope you all have a wonderful rest of your week.
Speaker:And remember, stay skeptical, stay critical, and stay
Speaker:safe. Bye. Thank you for listening, joining
Speaker:and being a part of the Money Talk with Tif podcast this week. You can
Speaker:check tiff out every Thursday for a new Money talk podcast. But
Speaker:if you just can't wait until next week, you can listen to previous podcast
Speaker:episodes@moneytalkwitht.com or
Speaker:follow TIFF on all social media platforms at
Speaker:moneytalkwitht. Until next time, spend wise
Speaker:by spending less than you make a word to the money wise is
Speaker:always sufficient.
