Social media has become an important means for communication to promote content sharing and social networking. The usage of social media has opportunities and challenges. This article aims to highlight the ways through which individuals authenticate fake news while using social media platforms. To explore the patterns of fake news authentication on social media, online and offline surveys were conducted to get 231 responses. Social media users at the individual level authenticate fake news at two levels: internal – individual discernment and perceptiveness about news, sources and popularity of news, and external – friends and relatives, multiple external sources, formal and social spheres. This study provides insights into the usage patterns of social media platforms and ways of fake news authentication. The insights from the study might help social media platforms, governments, users and researchers.