Photo by Capturing the human heart. on Unsplash

Social media has become the shotgun, fire hose and megaphone for all messaging.

This power can have a tremendous positive impact on wrongs needing righting. Weve seen it in recent years with the #metoo movement, the reaction to the George Floyd killing and outing racists in their natural habitats.

Unfortunately, it can also amplify false allegations and outright lies spread equally by those with agendas and those with altruistic ideals.

This is especially true of issues and comments that elicit outrage. It can take less than an hour for a Tweet to rebound on the poster and come back to get them fired or charged. It happened recently with an ex-cop on a bike in the U.S. grabbing tape and posters from a young girl who was spreading the word about a Black Lives Matter protest. Some Twitter detective thought they identified the culprit and plastered his profile on social media. Turns out, it was the wrong guy, but not before the innocent man was sent death threats.

Weve learned that Facebooks content algorithm likes to send you content that they know will stir a reaction, and they dont care its real, fake or downright ridiculous, as long as you keep clicking and sharing. Its mathematically likely that many items pouring through the average Facebook feed are hot garbage.

Twitter is less prone to this chaos as people choose which accounts to follow. But sponsored Tweets are not selected and most share content worthy of account blocks.

Because we all have the power to amplify with the click of a button, its important to remember that the onus is on us to verify that what we are sharing is legitimate. We can ruin lives with a careless click.

The golden rule extends to social media. If we wouldnt want someone to falsely accuse you of a heinous act without direct evidence, perhaps we should give that courtesy to others.

The Grove Examiner/Stony Plain Reporter

Originally posted here:

EDITORIAL: Verify before you share a lie - The Kingston Whig-Standard