Misinformation: A Social Media Menace

"Anyone who has the power to make you believe absurdities has the power to make you commit injustices"

- Voltaire

As social media is becoming increasing popular, its downside is increasingly becoming apparent. Well, I’m not going to accentuate those pitfalls, but would suggest some options to avoid becoming a victim of or contributing to, this misinformation.

To make my point, here’s a brief incident which is widely circulated in the social media.

Bill Gates was at coffee shop:

After having his coffee, he gave $5 to the waiter as a tip. Waiter picked up the money, but with an evil smile on his face. Gates realized this and asked, “What happened?” The waiter replied, “I'm just amazed because in the same coffee shop, your son gave a tip of $500 and you, his father, the richest man in the world, tipped only $5.” Gates smiled and replied with the meaningful words, "He's the son of the world's richest man, but I am the son of a wood cutter”

The moral of this incident is: NEVER FORGET YOUR PAST.

Are you wondering why I am taking offence to this incident? Well, for beginners, Bill Gates is not a son of wood cutter (click here for proof). He was born to fairly wealthy parents. Now you may say, even if the incident is a made up one, the moral is good. Think about it this way. Five years down the line (assuming I will be making more money than what I am making today), if I tip a bartender $1 and claim, “five years ago, I was a struggling grad-student”, it is only likely to invite those harsh glares from the bartender. People would quickly (and rightly) draw the conclusion of my parsimonious nature. Point is, use common sense and don’t accept the morals concluded by someone else. Don’t we already have religions which have often created such legends to glorify particular practices? Why take social media in the similar direction?

It is not too hard to verify the authenticity of incidents posted on social media. Here are some pointers:

1. Don’t be a monkey on computer keyboard and hit the ‘share’ or ‘publish’ buttons. Please use common sense.
2. Don’t believe any information unless it is from official (or reputed) sources. It may take a few extra minutes, but you will be doing social service on social media by improving the quality of content. Learn to distinguish between opinions and facts.
3.  If you see a clear agenda behind any post, it is likely to be either exaggerated or untrue. Use your discretion, unless you too have the same agenda. In which case, you are degrading the quality of content on social media.

I’m not a big fan of censorship on social media. But it is responsibility of every user to understand that no freedom is absolute. In the US, freedom of speech is guaranteed by the constitution, yet shouting fire in a crowded theatre, is not permissible. One has to show some self-restraint. If not, in future more people are less likely to participate in social media.