Artwork for podcast Money Talk With Tiff
How to Fact-Check Financial Gurus Online | Ep. 319
Episode 31930th April 2024 • Money Talk With Tiff • Tiffany Grant
00:00:00 00:15:34

Share Episode

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.

Connect with Tiffany

Website: https://www.moneytalkwitht.com

Facebook: Money Talk With Tiff

Twitter: @moneytalkwitht

Instagram: @moneytalkwitht

LinkedIn: Tiffany Grant

YouTube: Money Talk With Tiff

Pinterest: @moneytalkwitht

TikTok: @moneytalkwitht

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  • Consider the Publishing Date and Context: Information might be outdated or taken out of context to push a particular narrative.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

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!

Support this Podcast

Copyright 2024 Tiffany Grant



This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:

Chartable - https://chartable.com/privacy

Transcripts

Speaker:

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.

Chapters

Video

More from YouTube