Don't believe everything you read.

[rogueslayer452]

Taken from the Crunchy Questions Meme:

What are some truths you think everyone knows, but chooses to ignore?

That you shouldn't believe everything that you read on the Internet, and that you should always double and triple check the sources before sharing something you found online, and when in doubt just don't share it at all until there's actual confirmation.

And while I don't know if people consciously choose to ignore it, I do think that, thanks to the fast-paced nature of social media, it has made people want quick information rather than doing the research for themselves so they'll believe anything that immediately pops up on their feed and share it with others. Sometimes without even reading the links provided, because if the people they follow are linking it well, then it must be reliable and true, right? This is how misinformation gets spread, unfortunately, whether purposefully or not. We've all accidentally made this mistake, I've made it several times myself over the years, it happens. But I think we should try to make it a habit of not believing everything we see online without credible sources, or treat everything we see as mere rumors until proven otherwise.

Comments

[elizalavelle.livejournal.com]

I find it's a conscious challenge to remember that just because something seems credible it really isn't. It's especially hard when it's something I already am biased to believe. I'm trying to keep reminding myself of exactly what you've said because I don't want to share misinformation.

[rogueslayer452.livejournal.com]

It's especially hard when it's something I already am biased to believe.

Oh, absolutely, and I think we're all like that to an extent, since we all have our personal biases on things and if something we see feeds into that bias we're more willing to wholeheartedly believe it even if there's no credible proof. And we have to make the conscious decision of not believing something until it's been either officially confirmed or denied.

This is an overall issue, I think, when it comes to not just how people are online but just in real life. We tend to believe things we want to hear instead of what the actual truth is.