In this age of information most of us are living in, it's important to learn how to wisely navigate through it without falling prey to misinformation garbage.
- Chain letters. Remember those from the snail mail days? I probably received my first one in elementary school, and I didn't know what it was, other than the message scared me to death. And post Internet days, the contagious things mutated and infected the biggest information spreader of our day: email and Facebook accounts. We've all received email forwards that attempt to emotionally manipulate you to keep forwarding it or suffer the consequences of bad luck, financial ruin, sickness, or even death. On the flip-side are the emails that promise good luck or a windfall of money, or even evoke Jesus' name to make it sound more authentic. Chain emails or posts are rubbish and don't deserve a second look, and shame on whomever sits around creating these forms of psychological blackmail. Don't fall for them, and don't keep littering your friends' email and Facebook accounts with them.
- Hearsay. Much of the "news media" is a misnomer these days. When they all are locked in a ratings competition and have to satisfy their advertising sponsors, they tend to cover the most titillating and provocative stories to draw in the most viewers. No telling what important information we're missing because it's not sensational enough. And in the race to break a story first, too many news shows make it a habit of presenting hearsay as facts until someone eventually corrects them. Too few are involved in actual in-depth, investigative reporting, and the majority sound like minions repeating the same stories over and over.
- Bias. Too many news shows give a slanted presentation of news that fit their political or social beliefs, so viewers fail to get an objective report showing both sides of an issue. To remedy that, it's important for all of us to watch the news from different sources (liberal, conservative, Christian, etc.) to get all sides of a story or issue. And throw in a foreign news source, too, to see what's going on in the world and hear about issues from their point of view. In the past ten years, my son has traveled around the world and even lived and worked in Syria, Iraq, and the Sudan. He often gave us a different perspective about those countries than what we saw on the news. He watches Al Jazeera news regularly to see what's going on in the world.
- Slander. How many times have we forwarded an email rumor about someone without checking the facts? In a single click, we can trash someone's reputation, and an email slander tends to live in perpetuity. But if we all make the attempt to correctly dispose of these when we do get one by replying to all that it's a hoax or rumor, that will help clean up the misinformation on the virtual highway. Election years are the worst times to see those types of ads, emails, and news stories. No matter which side of the aisle we're on, it's helping no one, especially our communities and country, by perpetuating slander about anyone. Truth must be upheld and defended, without question. We cannot survive without it. The following are good sites to check out a rumor or hoax: Urban Legends and Snopes. And Snopes even had a hoax circulating that it couldn't be trusted because it was 'owned by a flaming liberal' and was 'in the tank for Obama,' so even the Websites trying to expose hoaxes aren't immune to misinformation and slander.
- Demands to Forward an Email or Share a Post. I don't know why some people refuse to let good information stand on its own. Someone may start a great piece on the information highway, but then someone else feels obligated to tack on a threat or attempt to shame us if we don't forward it on, citing our lack of love for Jesus or patriotism or compassion if we don't. If I choose to forward something, I remove that tacky part of the email because I think the information should speak for itself, and I for sure didn't send it on because someone psychologically forced me to. But most times I delete an email if it has that tagged-on message just because it aggravates the life out of me.
- Friendship Assurance. We should know who our friends are without having to ask them to repost something or send the same email back to show they're our friends. Maintaining a true friendship happens outside of FB or any other social networking site we're on, and if we're depending on one of those reposted messages to tell us, we need to revisit the definition of friendship.
- TMI Facebook Clutter. I know I'm stomping on some toes here, but think about why we're on Facebook. Everyone loves seeing updates and photos on friends and family and what they're up to, but when people use FB primarily to post ads selling things or political views, most of which don't change anyone's mind, then it's Facebook clutter. I like good information that makes me think and reflect or inspires me; keep those coming. And I've used so many good recipes I've copied off of FB shares. But do any of us call everyone in our contact list to tell them every little detail of our day? If not, why do we feel obligated to do that on FB? Anyone with 300+ friends knows how time-consuming it is to scroll through hundreds of posts every day to get to the ones we really value and want to see, so it's a good practice for us all to be discriminating about our posts.
- Hoaxes & Get-rich-quick Emails. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Companies do not pay you to forward emails. Your friend probably isn't stranded penniless in Spain and needs you to wire money. And the email from the stranger in Africa who says he will split his bazillions of dollars with you if you'll send him money to get his money out of his country is such an obvious scam, but they keep sending them because some people actually fall for it. And NEVER give out any passwords or financial or personal information through the email. I received a hoax email saying it was from PayPal about a charge I didn't make, and it looked completely legit-- even the logo and address. But I looked it up and learned that there was one little clue that meant it wasn't from PayPal: they didn't use my whole name in the greeting. Use your search engine or the links under "Slander" to find out about these hoaxes.
The important thing is to be wise about information. Diversify your information sources so you know you are getting a more balanced view. Take information with a healthy dose of skepticism, knowing that Rumor, Bias, Slander, Hoax, and TMI are alive and well in the electronic and virtual worlds, and we need to learn to recognize and dispose of them properly every chance we get.
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