The rise of social-hungry-attention-seekers and 'fake news' has been amplified more than ever through social media. Everyone is allowed to make an opinion and the freedom to express themselves whichever way they like, as I am doing now. So you could say at this point you may ask why should you believe this? But you should as you know it to be true if you look deep enough. A lot of this can relate back to early literacy skills - English to interpret and analyse others tone of communication; reading, writing, listening and speaking. Is it expository, persuasive, narrative or descriptive? Like marketing, some write their articles to a targeted audience and tap into your existing preconceptions. Which make you want to agree with them, which could then eventually lead onto the inappropriate use of propaganda. Organisations pay people to follow them or employ people to go on social media to generate interest and sometimes troll for reactions. However, if it's not media trying to control our thoughts and feelings on matters, it's retail trying to control our ways of consumption.
I see a lot of posts written by non-professionals claiming '10 things you should do to make a better relationship...' or 'these daily ingredients that are slowly killing you...'. Even worse, I see a lot of memes written with clumsy information on and people believing and reacting to them as if it's true. It's subjective and unreliable rubbish and we can be just like vacuums sucking it in. Are we really 'Chained to the Rhythm'? It's a rising epidemic and it needs to dealt with. Imagine that all of your life choices were informed by these unauthentic articles. Scary isn't it! Ask yourself, who are you responding to, them or yourself?
A lot of this stems from a post I wrote many years ago 'Evolutionary not revolutionary?' where I said; "technology is our greatest invention and I think it will be our greatest killer". If we do not learn how to adapt to this epidemic positively and effectively, it could result in a huge outbreak of social separation and divide, which has actually been happening for some time. When people have claimed the end of the world years ago, I've always thought it's nothing to do with a asteroid on a collision course with earth, nor any ancient calendar etc. I believe it's things like this where humans will just implode on themselves and societies and communities will be so disconnected and divided it will be hard to recover.
Most of us have become somewhat lazy and believing what is laid upon us. It takes effort and time to search for information and even the truth. However, we must make effort to learn true facts. Here is a few points I adapted from Facebook's central guidance, to help inform yourself when searching for authentic material:
- Read and share the information only if you feel the source is credible enough.
- Be aware of trolls. Some people take pleasure in putting out misinformation and malicious comments to provoke others into anger or to create intentional negative reactions.
- Avoid being drawn by unrealistic and catchy headlines. It’s usually ‘clickbait’ to gain more views to their websites. If information looks and sounds unlikely, it probably is. Be suspicious but in moderation.
- Investigate the source of the information. How valid and reliable are they? What is their reputation for accuracy like? Do they have a background in that subject that allows authenticity? Are they experts and qualified in this area? What organisations are they attached to? Check the language, spelling, punctuation and grammar they use – if there are basic spelling and grammar errors they are unlikely to be professional.
- Look at the website address/Uniform Resource Locator (URL) closely to see if it matches or belongs to the same company purporting to have published the information. A fake web page could be an excellent clone of the real web page but the URL will give away its identity.
- Review the images used. They might look authentic but if you look closely they could be manipulated or doctored and be taken out of context. Search for the image elsewhere online to check its authenticity.
- Check the dates and reporting of the information. It could be old and reused information or the actual event might be out of timeline. If similar information is not being reported by other trusted sources then it’s probably unauthentic and unreliable.
- Distinguish if the information is intended for humour. Again check if the source is a known parody or comedy establishment/personality; it might just be for fun – like April Fools’ Day in the United Kingdom.
Overall, consider if the information is true, helpful, inspiring, necessary or kind.
EDIT:
Social media was once about sharing anything and everything with anyone. Now it's become a huge unmanageable negative 'trollverse'. I still has positivity in it though, but for general humankind, it's dwindling prospect. I've noticed the language that is used to provoke negative reactions. But the technology is not to blame, but people. People need to be authentic to themselves and not be lazy by scrolling through content and negatively reacting. It's not good for your health to be honest, getting worked up by others provoked anger. Vendors write language to get you to click and comment underneath to gain more traction on their supposed 'journalism'. Not all articles are hateful, but titles suggest it. Bringing out anger in comments. But people might lazily not read the article. For example, 'The Scene that was NOT originally planned', Chance To Make Amends After...', 'Why Fans Are Upset That They Didn't...', 'Everything That Went Wrong With...' Anything that gets put out is instantly hated on. All for what? More clicks, views and comments on content to look popular? People are not only ruining experiences for others but their own. Just enjoy things as they are without needing to negatively react to troll behaviour.
I'll keep coming back to these earlier thoughts on humans imploding on themselves. It's happening, whether you are for it or not. Social media will be the death of humanity. It already affects peoples lifestyles, entertainment, health, politics. P!nk emphasises this in her song ‘Can We Pretend’ – can spoil relationships and entertainment etc.
