TOOLS, USEFUL LINKS AND RESOURCES

TOOLS, USEFUL LINKS AND RESOURCES

TWITTER

Official Twitter Help https://goo.gl/yNSSjo

twXplorer: excellent breaking news tool that is useful to find out what hashtags

people are using https://goo.gl/21xKuz

Twitter advanced search https://goo.gl/sDQPwg

Twitter search tips: short cuts for searching Twitter https://goo.gl/zVIs3P

Twitter list scraper https://goo.gl/QvXOBM

Twitter lists search tool https://goo.gl/SqW1rJ

Foller.me excellent verification resource with extensive info on a user’s Twitter

account http://foller.me/

Who tweeted that first? Find the original tweeter and get back to the original

source http://ctrlq.org/first/

How to use some of Twitters newer features https://goo.gl/RITUQm

Setting up and using Twitter lists https://goo.gl/jZwwu8

Twitter Setting Twitter shortcuts to speed up social media newsgathering

https://goo.gl/FTK4KX

Everything you need to know about Twitter’s 140 character update

https://goo.gl/TlPgxt

Using Twitter lists to get to the heart of a story https://goo.gl/d9nlLK

SOCIAL MEDIA SEARCH TOOLS

Storyful Multisearch Chrome-only browser extent that allows you to search

several social media platforms, including Twitter, YouTube, Instagram and Tumblr

Google Advanced search https://goo.gl/bUEcRR

Searching Facebook: shortcuts for searching Facebook: http://graph.tips/

Find out when a web page was first posted on the Internet and cached

versions of web pages

https://goo.gl/llLkgZ

https://goo.gl/yMQ3wt

https://archive.org/web/

http://cachedview.com/

Find cached web pages in Google Search results

https://goo.gl/qANm73

SEARCH ENGINES

How to create a Google alert https://goo.gl/5COLwg

WolframAlpha Excellent search engine for answering questions: How far? How

deep? What was the first? What was the weather on a given day?

http://www.wolframalpha.com/

DuckDuckGo Go: Search engine that doesn’t track you https://duckduckgo.com/

VERIFICATION

Verification Handbook online resource http://verificationhandbook.com/

TinEye Finds where else a photo has been used and allows you to check whether

the one you have has been altered or manipulated. Also helps find newest, oldest,

most changed versions of a photo you’re want to check on http://www.tineye.com/

RevEye Reverse Image Search: Browser extension that searches multiple search

engines and TinEye, either one at a time or all at once (available for Chrome and

Firefox) Search for it in the Chrome or Firefox app store and download)

Is it edited? Easy to use tool that will tell you whether a photo has been edited or

manipulated http://imageedited.com/

Google reverse image search Useful for verification of pictures to find where else

a photograph has been used – and, importantly, when it was used

https://goo.gl/FzCtLc

RevEye (available as a Chrome, Firefox, Android and iPhone download) find it in

the relevant app shop

Google Advanced Image search To search for photos

http://www.google.com/advanced_image_search

FirstDraftNews guide for verifying photos (download and print out and stick

it on your wall) https://firstdraftnews.com/wp-

content/uploads/2017/03/FDN_verificationguide_photos.pdf

FirstDraftNews guide for verifying videos (download and print out and stick it

on your wall) https://firstdraftnews.com/wp-

content/uploads/2017/03/FDN_verificationguide_videos.pdf

Jeffrey’s Exif Viewer to check Meta data in a photo, including when it was taken:

goo.gl/IF43vd

Forensically Advanced tool for checking whether a picture has been faked, its

metadata, where it was taken (if it is geo-tagged) and lots more

https://goo.gl/wtiSwu

YouTube Data Viewer Insert the URL of a YouTube video and this tool will give

you details of the video, including when it was uploaded. (Be aware that the upload

date is not the same as the creation data of the video) The tool will also take screen

grabs from the video and allow you to do a Google reverse search to find other

iterations and earlier posts of the same video if they exist

http://www.amnestyusa.org/citizenevidence/

Video Vault: Use this tool to preserve videos, take screengrabs to do a reverse

search, slow down and speed up video and more to simplify the verification

process https://www.bravenewtech.org/

InVID Verification Plug-in: A powerful video and photo verification tool with

basic and advanced functions. Read how to use it here: http://www.invid-

project.eu/tools-and-services/invid-verification-plugin/. Scroll down to “Release

versions” to download for Chrome, Firefox or Mac OS

VERIFICATION RESOURCES

FirstDraftNews: A coalition of media organisations where verification is at their

core. The site is a treasure trove of essential newsgathering and verification

resources for journalists. (Make sure you sign up for the excellent newsletter.

Scroll to the bottom of the page to sign up) https://firstdraftnews.com/

The Internet is awash with fakes, hoaxes and urban legends that spread like

wildfire. These are a few go-to site to visit before tweeting or sharing rubbish

– and throwing your name away in the process

Sites that debunk fakes and hoaxes

Snopes http://www.snopes.com/

AfricaCheck https://africacheck.org/

Hoax Slayer http://www.hoax-slayer.com/

bellingcat https://www.bellingcat.com/

FirstDraftNews A coalition of news organisation involved with verification. The

site is a veritable treasure trove of free verification resources, tutorials and training

material https://goo.gl/weccDq

Hoax of fame https://goo.gl/z3xfXS

wafflesatnoon https://goo.gl/v8Z8V7

DOMAIN AND IP INFO

IP Address and Domain Information - Chrome browser extension

Worldwide https://who.is/

South Africa http://co.za/whois.shtml

WORLDWIDE PHONEBOOKS

Phonebooks worldwide Search by country for local phone books

http://www.numberway.com/

BROWSER EXTENSIONS FOR CHROME AND FIREFOX

(Search for them in the Firefox or Chrome app store and save to your browser

bookmarks bar. Some will then be available on your mouse right click

Scraper: easy-to-use tool to get data out of web pages and into spreadsheets (only

available for Chrome) https://goo.gl/wgq7Uy

See similar Google pages

Google Translate

Klout While a low Klout score may not have a negative connotation, a high Klout

score does indicate that the user has been around a while and is active on

social media

SCREEN GRAB TOOLS (Chrome and many also available for Firefox in the

relevant app shop)

Full Page Screen Capture

Nimbus Screen shot (can also annotate a screen grab)

Spam protector

10 Minute Mail Get a temporary email to protects you from spam when signing

on to a dodgy site or if you don’t want to leave tracks https://goo.gl/hO0MaB

INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISM

Advanced tools for investigative journalists

http://pudo.org/material/investigative-tools/

Investigative Dashboard

find researchers and expert sources to help you, search databases and for visual

networks of influence https://goo.gl/n65H3Z

PROMOTION OF ACCESS TO INFORMATION TOOL (for South Africa)

http://foip.saha.org.za/

DATA JOURNALISM

Data Journalism Handbook – free PDF download

http://datajournalismhandbook.org/1.0/en/

List curated by Raymond Joseph

Mobile +27 (0)83 264-5396

Twitter: @rayjoe

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rayjoejourno/

Email: rayjoe@iafrica.com.