Tips and tricks for becoming a better social media consumer

University of Montana professor of Journalism Lee Banville said the engagement of malicious or false information is just a part of how social media works. Much like how a sensational newspaper would write a controversial headline to entice more readers, the grabbing of reactions is built in to get people to click on links or engage with a post.

"Everything is easy to share on social media apps. It's built around you easily sharing information that may provoke some kind of reaction, whether it's love, it makes me laugh, makes me angry." Banville said. "The problem is the platform is built and m...