Evaluating Online Media Content

Before you use a social media post, a YouTube or TikTok video, a podcast, or any other type of online media content as a source in your paper, it’s important to make sure you understand who has created that content.

There are many self-proclaimed experts on social media, and it can be difficult to vet the information they present. While some content creators do rigorous research (many podcasts cite sources, interview experts, and employ fact-checkers, for example), others do not. If you want to use this type of source in your paper, make sure you have researched the creator of the content to find out their credentials, perspective, and sources of funding for their site or posts.

You should assess the source according to the same criteria you use to assess any source: Who is the creator of this content? What are their credentials? Do they provide any citations? Who is funding this content? How current is this content?