Evaluating Photos & Videos: Crash Course Navigating Digital Information #7

With the amount of fake and doctored photos and videos out there, how can we know what to trust? Most of us are used to thinking that "seeing is believing" but as technology makes it easier and easier to spread unreliable content online it's more important than ever for us to read laterally, check for context, and always fact check suspicious content - even if it looks real.

Special thanks to our partners from MediaWise who helped create this series:
The Poynter Institute

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Eric Prestemon, Sam Buck, Mark Brouwer, Bob Doye, Jennifer Killen, Naman Goel, Patrick Wiener II, Nathan Catchings, Efrain R. Pedroza, Brandon Westmoreland, dorsey, Indika Siriwardena, James Hughes, Kenneth F Penttinen, Trevin Beattie, Satya Ridhima Parvathaneni, Erika & Alexa Saur, Glenn Elliott, Justin Zingsheim, Jessica Wode, Kathrin Benoit, Tom Trval, Jason Saslow, Nathan Taylor, Brian Thomas Gossett, Khaled El Shalakany, SR Foxley, Sam Ferguson, Yasenia Cruz, Eric Koslow, Caleb Weeks, Tim Curwick, D.A. Noe, Shawn Arnold, Malcolm Callis, Advait Shinde, William McGraw, Andrei Krishkevich, Rachel Bright, Jirat, Ian Dundore
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Want to find Crash Course elsewhere on the internet?

[BThings]

This is quickly becoming my favorite CrashCourse series ever! Not only is it really useful, but each episode seems to be building upon the previous ones in a way that makes it really easy to remember what we've learned. I only wish I could have had this when I was taking AP Lang & Comp 8 years ago…Thank you so much, and keep up the great work!

[MysticMindAnalysis]

I love that John has done his hardest to be politically neutral in these videos, because I feel that being skeptical about all politics, even ones we agree with, is critically important.

I'm a pretty radical leftist, but I agree that faking videos and images does us no favours. There is plenty of real evidence to show Trump being a climate denier, or the unethical treatment of ICE on the border. So we shouldn't be distracted by arguing over fake evidence misrepresenting reality.

[rikkinijigen]

Subs to Captain disillusion, you will understand how special effect in fake video works (and how it is greatly inferior to captain's skill). A very underrated youtuber (and a superhero).

[LordofBroccoli]

A good word to learn for this video is "contextomy": the practice of misrepresenting someone by shortening the quotation or omitting contextual information.

[WeyrSingerMWT]

I definitely pronounced it Her-Me-Own When I read Harry Potter aloud to my little brother before the movies existed. Glad I wasn't the only one!

[LordofBroccoli]

I would also like to add that reserve searching images is good when checking for scammers, for example on dating sites. Sometimes the site is stupid enough to recycle photos.

[cjc]

I cannot express fully how awesome this video lesson series is. Going forward, I hope millennials and especially their kids learn by habit to pop a new browser tab and double-check stuff, eventually becoming muscle memory.

[caetanorodrigo]

I've watched a few crash courses. This one is definetelly the most relevant and vital. Thank you, Complexly team.

[emilyplunkett]

If you combine this series with your series on Media Literacy, you have a great foundation for Crash Course: Journalism. Thank you all and, please, keep up the good work. :)

[RangerRuby]

A picture is worth a thousand words.
A Crash Course video is worth a high school education.

[MrARock]

I think in 20 years, kids are going to be floored to learn there was a time when you could reasonably assume any photo or video was just true at face value.

[donniehdea]

Google informally sucks at visually similar images (best to use other software for that) also you can sometimes get more info by checking the metadata about a file, a lot of them contain GPS coordinates and stuff

[AncroKT]

Two things: thank GOD someone else pronounced Hermione's name that way, and I absolutely got the pixel counting meme, I don't care if that makes me old, it was a fine meme.

[markdimmitt]

John - those flowers are FASCIATED, not fascinated.

[gardenhead]

Wait until John finds out the Star-nosed Mole is an elaborate hoax

[burrito-town]

It's pronounced 'imijer'. I know, it's a confusing name.

[ianrbuck]

I wasn't expecting a Wilhelm Scream in an episode about images!

[sarty]

I love this series and I thank you all for taking the time to help us learn how to find truth in this ever more complicated digital world.

[coralee]

Reverse image search is also a valuable tool for reattaching attribution to illustrations and webcomics that have been separated from their creators. Artists rely heavily on social media followings to make a living - so it's heartbreaking how often I see out-of-context art/comics posted by a random person, with hundreds or thousands of likes, none of which will end up reaching or benefiting the creator. We can all help artists by doing a quick reverse image search and linking to the original creator in the comments whenever we see this happen.

[pipedevnull]

I liked Nicholas Cage in 'Raising Arizona'. He is not a bad actor.