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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

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  • Consider the Publishing Date and Context: Information might be outdated or taken out of context to push a particular narrative.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

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

Transcripts

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You know what it is. That's right. It's time to talk money with your money

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nerd and financial coach. Now tighten those purse strings

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and open those ears. It's the money talk with Tiff

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podcast.

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Hey, hey, and welcome to another episode of Tiffany's Take, where I

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answer your questions right here on the podcast. So if you

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would like your questions answered, go to

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www.moneytalkwitht.com

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axtiffany and I'll be more than happy to answer for you. Now,

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let me forward on and say that I'm not feeling good

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today, so I'm gonna try to make this short, sweet, and to the

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point because I know my voice sounds a little,

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eh, so I don't want to tear up your

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eardrums too much. But what I want to talk about

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today, I've been getting a lot of people sending me videos and

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messages like, is this real? Is this real? And usually they're referring

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to some social media video or some post that they've seen,

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and so they're trying to get my take on it. Now, with that being

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said, most of the ones that I get sent, I'm like,

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yeah, this is b's, or, yeah, this makes no sense,

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or this is not true, or half true, or whatever the case may be. So

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I wanted to take this so to just over some things that

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I do when I fact check some of these social media

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gurus on the types of things that they're talking about,

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and maybe you can do the same on your own.

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And if there is something that you would like me to investigate a

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little further or have questions about, just let me know. I'm available

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in all DM's, my email, what have you. I'm

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onytalkwitht on all social media platforms, so, and I do answer

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my own DM's, so I will get you an

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answer. But with that being said, one of the things that someone

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sent me just this morning was someone on social media

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talking about how Wells Fargo is going to go bankrupt

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and, you know, take all your money out and none of these

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banks are safe, and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, crypto is the way to go,

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blah, blah, blah, blah. Okay. Now, with this particular video,

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upon doing my research, which gets me to my first point, which is

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trace the original source. As soon as I saw it, I said, okay, let

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me google some of the stuff that he's saying. Lo and behold,

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none of it came up. So there's no news articles, there's no

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insider information out there about it, none of that.

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So pretty much. He's taking what he thinks is going to happen

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or what he thinks is happening and putting his own spin on

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it. So always trace the original source. So if

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you come across something and it's somebody

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reporting on something, and I'm doing air quotes or given secondhand

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summaries or interpretations of what they found in the news or

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whatever, make sure you go look for it yourself.

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Always seek out the original source of the information. So

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find the original article, the study, the report, rather

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than solely relying on them. Because the thing is, with this particular

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video in the comment section, people were like, oh,

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should I move my money? Who is this? I need to follow da da da

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da da. And everybody's going all in a tizzy on something that's not even

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true. So just keep that in mind. And this video had

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hundreds of thousands of views, hundreds and thousands of likes.

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And so all of these people are now thinking that this is the

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truth because they haven't done their own due diligence. And so, of course,

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my comment was like, make sure you all do your own research. And

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that's why I decided to do this episode today. So, number

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one, trace the original source. Number two, check the author's

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credibility. So investigate the author or the organization that's

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responsible for the content. To give you an example, if you see a report out

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there and they're saying, oh, make sure that you take your money

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out of a bank. And the studies show

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that 60% of people don't believe in the banking system

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or whatever, right? I'm just pulling stuff out the sky. Is it

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a credit union that's funding this? Is it the crypto bros.

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That's funding this? Like, who is funding this information? Who is

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funding the study? If you see a study and it's like, cigarettes are good

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for you, and you go and look, and the cigarette

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companies are the ones that are funding this research,

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then that's something that will add a different lens to it.

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That's something that, oh, they actually have a benefit in this study,

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and so it may or may not be reputable. So always

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check the author's credibility. So, with this particular video, we'll stay with

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this one that I'm talking about. I did my research on the guy.

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Come to find out he's an insurance salesperson, and one of the things that he

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was saying in the video was, take your money out of the banks

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and put it in, in universal life

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policy. For me, that was a red flag. I said, is this guy

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an insurance agent? Lo and behold, he was so

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always, always check the author's

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credibility. Check what it is that they get out of the

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situation. Are they an expert in the field?

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Do they have a history of reliable reporting? Evaluating the

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credibility of the source can provide significant insight into

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the reliability of the information. Had he not been

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an insurance agent, and he said that, okay, maybe I'm

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still going to do some additional research, but me knowing that he is an

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insurance agent and saying that, I'm like, oh, well, you just want to

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make some money, you know what I'm saying? Because he was

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also saying, oh, you know, you should take your money out because

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investing anything can happen, but not telling people

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that these life insurance policies are also investing your money.

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So, yeah, it's just, it's really interesting.

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So number one, trace the original source. Number two, check the author's

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credibility. All right? Number three, look for corroboration

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from other reputable sources. So that's one of the steps that I did. As

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soon as he started talking, I went straight to Google. I said, are they going

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bankrupt? Because, I mean, express is, you know, somebody told me that,

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I looked it up. Lo and behold, there's a bunch of different articles

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saying how express is going bankrupt. When I searched, well, Wells

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Fargo this morning, the only things I found was the

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issues that they had a few years ago when they were making accounts,

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fraudulent accounts and stuff like that, which he did bring up in the video, which

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was a true part, but he was making it seem like it was recent. And

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then that's why they're going bankrupt. And so also beware

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of that where someone might say something that has

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a truth in it, but then they're spending it to meet their own

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needs. So look, look online. Look other

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places to see if other people are saying this. If the story is true, it's

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likely that there are other credible media outlets, research

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institutions, or official organizations that are also reporting on

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it. Like, when I looked up express, there were lots

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of articles on it. When I looked up Boston market going out of business, there

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were lots of articles going in, going on about it. And

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one thing that this guy said was, I have insider information

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on this. That should be a red flag, too, because

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that means he's covering himself. If you go look it up, it's not going to

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be there, you know? Now, don't get me wrong, there are some people that do

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have insider information, but like I said, take it

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with a grain of salt. All right? So number four, use fact checking

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websites. So there are some fact checking websites that you can

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use, like Snopes or factcheck.org. Or the

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Poyntner Institute's politifact if it's something political.

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But these sites specialize in investigating rumors and verifying the

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accuracy of widely circulated information. So if it's something that you heard

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that's widespread, those websites probably have something on

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it. So check there as well. And you have to realize

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that journalism is a whole career. There's

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people that are trained in how to get good information.

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And so that's why I'm, like, social media gurus and

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stuff. Even me, I'm like, I'm not a journalist. Like,

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being a journalist is a whole career. And so I'm not a

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journalist. But there are people that have spent their lives

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and dedicated their careers to making sure that people get

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accurate information. So don't confuse social media

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gurus, bloggers, and things like that as actual

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journalists, unless they are. You know what I mean?

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Because don't get me wrong, I know people that are

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journalists that also make social media content and things

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like that. But that goes back to my number

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two, check the author's credibility, and you can use

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these fact checking websites to see if they have any information on it, too. Number

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five, assess the evidence. So, does the post or article provide

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evidence for its claims? Reliable information is typically supported

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by data, quotes from experts, or links to research. So be wary

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of claims based solely on personal anecdotes or unsupported

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assertions, like this guy was doing in this video. This is all his

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personal beliefs about things. It had nothing. No

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data. He didn't mention any data. He didn't mention any quotes from experts.

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He didn't put any links down in the comment section or anything to where

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he's getting his information from. It was just all off the top of his

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dome. And a lot of people do that for engagement. And

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especially now that everything is monetized, people are

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just trying to get the money. So be extra careful about

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anything that you read on these social media platforms. It has gotten

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infinitely worse. Y'all. Y'all know I've been doing this for a long time. Since

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2017, I've been a social media influencer, blogger,

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whatever. And it has been getting worse because

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people are now just trying to get these checks from these social media

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companies. So you have to be extra diligent in what you read

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and consume on these platforms. Okay? So number six,

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beware of misleading headlines or images. Headlines or images

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that seem designed to elicit strong emotional reactions are often red

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flags. And I know you've been there. Sometimes I stumble

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across them on YouTube, where it's like, you know, saying something that they

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know you're gonna click on. But when you get to the video has nothing to

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do with whatever they were talking about. So usually they're

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intended to mislead or sensationalize the information. So

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look beyond the headline by reading the full content,

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checking out the context, and making sure that

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everything aligns. So if you see something that's good to

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be true, like, for instance, this guy's video, I think it was

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called, like, Wells Fargo's going out of business. Get an

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iul to keep your money safe, be your own bank or something like

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that. Red flag. Red flag.

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So, speaking of context, though,

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number seven, consider the publishing date and the context of

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what you're reading. So, information might be accurate at one point in

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time, but it might be outdated by now, or it may have been taken out

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of context. And I keep picking on the same video, but he's

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hitting, like, all seven points for me. And so,

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like I said before, he took a real news thing

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that happened back in, like, 2017, 2018,

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and he's carrying it into today and using

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that to justify why he thinks Wells Fargo is going out of business.

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Now, don't get me wrong side note, I do not like Wells Fargo

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personally. I have a history with them. I do not like them,

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and I do not think that they're a good bank. However,

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I'm not going to say, well, you should move your money out of Wells

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Fargo, and they're going bankrupt because of my personal preferences. You know what

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I mean? So always check the date of publication and

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consider the current context to ensure that it's relevant

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and accurate. Okay, so something can be true at one point, but it

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can be not true the next point. So make sure you take all of that

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into consideration. So I say all of this to say,

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whenever you are ingesting anything on social media, or

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any platform for that matter, even news, take a

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critical approach. In an era where anyone can be

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an influencer, anyone could be a publisher,

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anyone could be a journalist or whatever, it falls on

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each of us to be discerning consumers and responsible

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sharers of information. Usually, I don't share something unless

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I look it up, and there's been situations where

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I just hit the share button and I have to go back and delete it

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because I find out something else. So now I'm very, very careful

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with sharing information on my page if it's not accurate, because,

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honestly, that is a bad look for me, right? If I'm sharing

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false information, somebody looks it up and they're like, well, Tiffany,

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this isn't true, or why are you sharing this? Or whatever? Now it looks bad

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on me and people might not listen to what I have to say. So I

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say that to say, always be critical, always be

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skeptical, always do your own research and that's how you can

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stay out of trouble. So that's all I have for you today. If you

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have any questions you want me to answer on the podcast, just go to

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www.moneytalkwitht.com

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x tiffany. Also, make sure you all are checking out the blog.

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There's a ton of information over there. I'm publishing

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articles pretty regularly, so even if you checked it out before,

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there's probably some new stuff up there. One of my most popular

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blog posts is different ways that you can make

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money. One of my most popular blog posts is 40

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passive income ideas. Definitely take a look at that.

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Another one is how to turn 10,000 into

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100,000. So take a look at that. And then

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also one more is financial literacy in schools. And

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I talk about the pros and cons. So definitely check it out.

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I'll make sure I have all those links in the show notes. But thank you

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so much for listening to the podcast. Be sure you like subscribe share

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this episode if you felt that it was helpful. Also make

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sure you're rating and reviewing the podcast. That's really helpful for

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us as well. I think right now we're up to like 40 review, 40

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something reviews. So thank you so much to everybody that has done it.

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But I know there's so many of you out there that haven't. So please

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just take some a quick minute to type in something really

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quick. Let people know what you think of the podcast. Let me know because I

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read all of them and some of them do get posted on my social media.

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So if you would like that, please make sure that you are

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reading and reviewing for me. I appreciate you tuning into me

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every week, twice a week, on Tuesdays and Thursdays. It means so

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much to me. So I hope you all have a wonderful rest of your week.

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And remember, stay skeptical, stay critical, and stay

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safe. Bye. Thank you for listening, joining

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and being a part of the Money Talk with Tif podcast this week. You can

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check tiff out every Thursday for a new Money talk podcast. But

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if you just can't wait until next week, you can listen to previous podcast

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episodes@moneytalkwitht.com or

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follow TIFF on all social media platforms at

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moneytalkwitht. Until next time, spend wise

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by spending less than you make a word to the money wise is

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always sufficient.

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