STOP With the Fake News!!
It’s yet again another article from yours truly, about how not to fall into the trap of blindly clicking and sharing something on social media without paying attention to what you’re sharing. My stepdad told me a long time ago, “Don’t believe anything you hear, and only half of what you see!” This stuck with me and it has worked well for keeping me sane and has proven to be some of the best advice I’ve ever received.
So many times, something pops up on our social media page and our first impulse is unfortunately a knee jerk reaction, and we click share before we even know what we are looking at. This happened recently with the example below. The sad part is that taking one moment to look at the content before hitting the share button can help us all monitor what is flying around the internet.
This post popped up on a page on Facebook on Jan 8th and quickly received likes and more shares.
First off, if you zoom in on the name of the TikTok creator @zaacharyjones you will find this video at the link below. Their link states, “This plane just crashed in the park behind my house!”
https://www.tiktok.com/@zaacharyjones/video/6774876004038069510
When I had my short stint with TikTok I watched this video, then I laughed because I knew what I was looking at. Now I’m not calling myself some super genius nor am I suggesting that I’m this smart BUT, I do pay attention to certain things and I can remember just about everything I’ve seen. This plane crash is a movie set on the Universal Studios back lot. You can see it too for yourself on the tram tour or just click the link below to enjoy. Steven Spielberg build this for the movie War of the Worlds.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8sgJjf_a7oo
This is NOT the plane that went down in Tehran nor is it a plane crash in the park behind someone’s home, unless of course the park is Universal Studios. The incident that happened in Tehran is tragic and there were 176 lives lost, don’t they deserve something more than fake news?
This is a perfect example of think before you click! This post went all over Facebook and again, I laughed because I knew what I was looking at. I really enjoy the hilarity that comes with seeing the cars, houses, and the 1980’s black and white police car. Things that would never be found in Iran or in some random park. I think as a society we are so ready to jump onto the next cause that we don’t really stop to look at what we are doing. We get overtaken by anger, frustration, and I hate to say it, but stupidity. Knee jerk reactions are not the answer! This is something that is fueled by emotions and we instantly react rather than paying attention to what we are doing and before we know it…we’re dumb.
Fake news is a HUGE problem in our world, and it has me to the point where I barley pay attention to anything unless its news coming directly from the source. I don’t watch the news on TV anymore, I steer clear from CNN, FOX News and just about anything else. I don’t listen to what people say, I don’t read magazines, nor do I engage in Facebook news. You may think I’m uninformed however I am not. I do pay attention and go find news when it’s something I want to know about, however I will search for the source and read the news there, but still only believe half of what I’m looking at.
Not so old but a good one… remember when this went around the internet? Showing viewers what appears to be proof that what we are told is not accurate? The reporter for the Weather Channel is being blown all over and can barely hold himself up and the two guys in the back walk past him completely unaffected by the wind. You can find this video link below as well… it’s kind of funny. The Weather Channel went on to support their field journalist by stating that he was standing on wet grass while the two behind him were on concrete, and he was tired. I have no idea if that would affect him but I’m doing a small eye roll as we speak.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZyrRCx8-fZk
If we want to help change our world, and change how we see things we need to pay attention to what we are doing, what we are looking at, and what we engage in. We are responsible for our own actions and what we choose to participate in. You need to make sure you are responsible for what you are doing and your role in what is shared. Imagine how much impact you have just on your friends and family on your social media pages?
Personally, I don’t engage that much, as you may guess from my latest Facebook post below:
We’re not getting out of this life alive; my thoughts are you may as well laugh when you can!
When it comes to social media I basically post funny memes and keep myself and my opinions out of social media. I have a bunch of things to say and a ton of things I think about but not everyone is interested in those ideas, thoughts or opinions, and I know that. I tend to keep to myself and try to say positive things on posts I like and things I see. If something offends me, I just keep scrolling. The seconds it takes to move your finger across the phone screen is better than the argument you are about to have with a troll who is just waiting for you to engage.
When it comes to my articles here, I write the things I think about and if something sticks in my head for a long period of time, I generally write it up to share here on LinkedIn. Many of my thoughts and opinions are found here, however most of them are focused on my own experiences and life events. My goal in writing here is simply to share my ideas and hopefully I write something that touches the life that is reading it.
The idea to keep track of what we are doing on social media did stick in my head. I understand it is easy to get lost in all the things we see and in reality it is not our job to monitor what others do, but we can monitor ourselves and try to end the spread of fake news and pay attention to what we see before we jump into the well of the uninformed and the mindless. We can make a difference in our world even if it's just a couple hundred friends at a time. You can keep your sanity too! Research what you see, what you are told and pay attention! You can find just about anything on the internet these days, even the truth!