My biggest joy today is that there are so many news articles about fake news on the internet...NO KIDDING, it's about time that became an issue!
Truth can hurt, but lies hurt more...and for much longer. It doesn't matter if it's a lie from a loved one, a stranger or an organization...we need to know the truth so we can make reasonable decisions in life. Rumors and lies have the power to destroy reputations and determine the future of relationships...as well as elections.
"If you tell the truth you don't have to remember anything." Mark Twain
During this election the truth has been manipulated and maligned so much and so often by campaigners and just regular people making a buck off us that we don't have any idea what the truth is anymore. Citizens of this great nation have just become pawns in a crazy game where, unfortunately, we are the losers.
“A lie can travel half way around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes.” Mark Twain
Admittedly, any of us can turn into a gossip when the news is juicy enough. It's kind of fun and connects us to each other. Unfortunately, it goes downhill from there. The good news is that with the amount of lies out there, it has become painfully obvious to the public that we are hoodwinked on a regular basis. The internet has made a massive amount of dubious resources available to us with one easy click and the ability to share with another easy click.
The best thing we can do for ourselves and everyone around us is fact check, fact check, fact check. Yes, it might not be that fun...and sometimes actually a lot of work to wade through the sources to find the truth. But the other option is you are spreading a lie that others believe and possibly creating a lot of damage OR you look like an idiot for spreading something completely false...like the news that Kurt Cobain prophesied that Trump would be president. Nope, didn't happen. Snopes is a great resource to check quickly...so please quit spreading the BS or at least take the time to fact check it first.
Not surprisingly, most of us get our news sources from social media now. Luckily Google and Facebook are stepping up to the plate to help us wade through the muck that exists in the world wide web...although I'm sure it will take some trial and error to make sure reliable sources show up in our feed and catch the crazy stuff our friends share without fact checking. In the mean time, lets make the effort to search out trustworthy sources for ourselves.
News sources are like friends, if you can't trust them, why spend time with them? More importantly if it's a friend (news source) you don't trust...why would you recommend it to someone you like? It just makes you look bad. Of course, biased truth is a whole other topic...you might want to check your biases and the biases of your news as well...maybe hear it from both sides before you make decisions or decide to share your 'truth'. If you hadn't figured this out yet, truth matters, and you matter...we are all in this together, let's fight and be vigilant where it effects us the most, demanding and searching for the truth. That's the one thing those with an agenda DON'T want us to do.
Here are some helpful resources...but again, you may need to fact check my sources, afterall, what makes you think I know what I'm talking about?
Here are some helpful resources...but again, you may need to fact check my sources, afterall, what makes you think I know what I'm talking about?
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