Fresh when it gets here from
Julie Barrett
Wednesday, October 6, 2021
Hey, it's easy to sit back and read the reports of Facebook profiting on misinformation and our sense of outrage, shrug our shoulders, and say "so what?"
Are the profiting? Are they promoting it? I haven't seen solid proof. Yet, my timelines are filled with misinformation. Where does it come from? My friends, who share.
Hey, I love y'all, which is why I'm being tough and demanding you take responsibility for what you share.
"Seems legit" isn't enough. Where did that statistic come from? Who made that chart, and where did they get their information? Did that politician or celebrity really say that? If they did, does the context support the bit quoted? Is the statistic correct, but the picture misleading? Was that photo showing a large (or small) crowd really taken at a particular event?
If you can't verify it, don't share it. That's all I'm asking. Yes, that takes work, and it may send you down a rabbit hole or two, but it's worth it. Some of these posts are depending at your sense or outrage or some other emotion to just share.
There could be a reason no one is sharing. Maybe Facebook took down the picture of that disabled child because it accompanied a screed attacking
them personally or disabled kids in general. Or maybe the parents asked for the picture to be taken down. Maybe that child has since passed and its painful for their family to see that picture over and over, being used in a game of "game the algorithm." But those parents posted the picture in the first place! Did they? Did a well-meaning relative do it? I don't know about you, but that's a deeper rabbit hole than I want to go down. It's better to not share.
Which reminds me, it's not
National Black Cat Day is it? Seems to be every week. Of course, it isn't, but that's an excuse to share a picture of Midnight, the black cat who lived with us for eighteen years. She was a sweetie.
Now go forth and vet!