#CapitolHill is on lockdown. This is a breaking news situation and a VERY important time to slow down, take a breath and be diligent about how you find reliable information and get the facts on social media. (THREAD)

STEP 1: Check your emotions. This is a highly volatile situation and emotionally charged moment. It's crucial that you take a step back and make sure your emotions are not clouding your judgment as you try to figure out what is going on.

These are the moments that bad actors thrive on -- when you are not thinking straight and just click share on anything you see. This is when you really need to PAUSE. Go for a walk if you need to. This is super important.

STEP 2: If you see a post going viral, and there are a lot of them right now, before you retweet or reshare it, check out who posted it. Look at their bio. Could they have an agenda? Are they a primary source? Are they an expert? An eyewitness?

Here is a photo going viral right now, shared with no evidence that the guns pictured were actually fired. https://twitter.com/MEPFuller/status/1346905489561579532?s=20

If you click on the account who shared it, they later tweeted "Alright, so I can’t *swear* there were gun shots. I saw the glass blow out of the chamber’s front door, and I heard an officer say shots fired. But everything is unconfirmed at this moment." Context = King

It's unclear what was happening in that photo, the reporter should have waited to share it until he had more info. Even in these heated, breaking news moments, the press can prematurely share info on social media. That leads us to...

STEP 3: Read multiple sources. This is history in the making, you want to read what multiple news outlets are saying and watch live feeds as much as possible to get unedited, raw video from the events on the ground. And be sure to check out outlets across the political spectrum.

Some tips on getting a feel for political bias of news outlets can be found here: https://www.poynter.org/fact-checking/media-literacy/2020/should-you-trust-media-bias-charts/

See something you're not sure about? Tag @MediaWise and #isthislegit. Any questions about how to find reliable info? Ask us! DMs are open. Stay safe everyone and be careful with what you share in the coming days. More tips coming....