How Many of Your Friends Shared the "Shark Sighting in Davenport"

In the age of social media, it’s easier than ever to share information with your friends and family. Unfortunately, just because something is out there doesn’t mean it’s true, which means you have to fact check everything before you send it on to other people. This isn’t just good internet etiquette – it can also be the difference between getting friends and family members to respect your opinion or losing all their trust in you as a credible source of information. In this article, we break down why you should fact check before you share, as well as how to fact check anything online.

Just because it's on the internet doesn't mean it's true. If it's on social media the odds of it being factual goes down significantly. Why do people share things without fact checking or even just considering the source for a moment?

Like the story you may have seen about sharks being sighted in Davenport Iowa. Many people shared it. Many people liked it. Many people were tricked into looking stupid by sharing something outrageous without considering if it were true or not.

Thank goodness for sites like CheckYourFact.com who state:

An image shared on Facebook purportedly shows two great white sharks found in the Mississippi River near Davenport, Iowa.

Verdict: False
The photo was previously posted on Flickr, where the caption said it showed bull sharks in the Río Sirena river in Costa Rica.

They even talked to a spokesperson for the Iowa Department of Natural Resources who denied the story ever happened.

Now we can all go back to worrying about what's REALLY in the Mississippi. Nitrates, arsenic, benzene and mercury.

5 Halloween Candies to Stay Away From This Year

Halloween may be just around the corner, but there are still plenty of trick-or-treaters out there, frantically collecting candy to fill their bags. Most of them are probably not thinking about what kind of impact all that sugar will have on their teeth, but they should be! That’s why we’ve decided to take a look at some of the scariest Halloween candies in terms of their harmfulness to your teeth and gums, both in the short term and over time.

h/t Insider

Quad City Pumpkin Patches

It's pumpkin pickin' time in the Quad Cities. Pumpkins make great fall decorations and they are obviously fun to carve. If buying a pumpkin at a store doesn't cut it and you want the full experience of a pumpkin patch, we have the full list of pumpkin patches throughout the Quad Cities. If we are missing any local pumpkin patches, email us here.