There are a number of fact-checking organizations out there, confirming or dismissing statements made on the internets. I think it would behoove the social media companies that provide the platforms to use these fact checking organizations to append a link when a social media item is noted in a fact check.

As an example, if a tweet is noted in a fact check, then Twitter should include a link to the fact-check with the tweet. If a tweet has been fact-checked, it probably has a long life.

Facebook may be more problematic, since a lot of Facebook posts may be corrupted through a daisy chain of shares and repostings, but Facebook has the computer power to tie the posts back to a common fact-checked source. ‘Shopped photos are one area Facebook could definitely be good at.

Other social media services will have their own fact-checking issues. I think faked pictures are probably the greatest threat, since they can jump across language barriers.

There is an International Network of Fact Checkers that has a code of principles for a fact-checking site to be accepted as a member. This might serve a a basis for finding checked fact and tying it to the social media item.

There are other fact-checking sites that that run the gamut of the political spectrum and truthfulness, and they have been identified by Media Bias/Fact Check.

Some sort of automated review of fact-checking sites for new social media postings would be most useful to help maintain the integrity of information in the shared mediaverse. The reviews need to be recurring as well, since the original post may not be fact-checked for some time after the posting.

And, of course, the satirical posts need to be readily highlighted. Especially a post taken from a satire site and reposted to a ‘legitimate’ site. The world has gotten so strange that it is hard to differentiate satire from reality, or malicious intent.