Spewing bad facts
In
the last few months I have noticed a disturbing trend. Social media has
changed. In the beginning the internet was a way to connect us all. I still
think it’s great but the flow of what I call “Clutter” is mounting. People are posting
misinformation like never before. The other day a friend posted something and they
were really mad about it. I tried to look up the facts and could not find
anything on it except from the website they posted it from. It’s very dangerous
to post bad facts in my books. What happens if your wrong?
Imagine, if you will, that someone
posted something totally wrong about you. What would the results be? You could
be fired, slandered, or even lose your family. Bad information is like the
guillotine in our day. Once bad facts are on you just try and get them off. If
someone posted I was a sex offender I would probably have to move even though
it’s totally false. Aren’t these scenarios the same for others in social media?
Is it possible that the facts you post just might hurt those that are innocent?
In the old days we checked sources
in school. You had to have at least two sources before you could write it down.
Plagiarism is ramped these days because the information is “Just” out there for
us on the net. The same could be said of bad facts. Who is right and who is
wrong on the net? I can post practically anything and get away with it. In
university recently I was told that no books after 1980 would be accepted as
sources. Why? Well it’s because new books talk about views on history and not
the facts. Isn’t it the same today on social media?
What does God have to say about
facts? In 1 Corinthians 13:1 it says “If
I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have
become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.” We use the net for many things.
One of those things is bashing or hate. It’s not about love on the net. God
uses several examples of the heart over what we see. 1 Samuel 16:7 “But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not
consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does
not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance,
but the LORD looks at the heart." God does ask us to look deeper into
the things we see and believe. Yes, that includes posting bad facts on the net.
Did you know that not all websites
are reputable? Did you know that there are not internet police that check the
facts before you post it? Twitter is great but if you’re famous twitter is bad.
Twitter spews a constant flow of twisted views on the facts. For example:
Patrick Kane of the Chicago Blackhawks made a mistake some years ago by hitting
a cabbie. Recently he has been accused of rape. As the twisted facts have
emerged it is totally unclear what the real story is. The fact remains that on
social media we have deemed him guilty. Yet, the facts are so unclear. We do
have an opinion but are they real facts?
I have an exercise for you this
week. Take a posting that trashes something or someone and look up the facts
before you retweet or post it. Realize that what you post might not be true. We
are having an election in Canada and the facts are more twisted than ever.
Politicians are rolling out misinformation like never before. Why are we
considering voting for people who twist facts? Pick a candidate that gives
factual posts. Honesty begins with you. It always has and even on social media
it always will. What you post just might come from your heart more than your
head and that’s a fact.
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