Fake News- Fake forwards -fake crap on FB (Not political)

I just got a forward from my cousin that I am having "problems" with. (just some relationship issues).

We have ben much better lately. But because of the issues I don't want to call her out on sharing fake news.

But she sent me a forward saying "Don't accept these key chains from Petrol stations, they are trackers to follow you home". Then she put "Forward to everyone you know". I was thinking Petrol? That means it came from Europe, not even the US. Besides, it just looked fake.

Its fake. Its not real. If she took 2 seconds to Google she would know. Then she would NOT be spreading more fake stories for OTHER people to forward.

I am now the Truth police. Not the grammar police. (I could not fix grammar if my life depended on it anyway).

ANYTIME I see anyone has posted a fake story I gently write "Its great we are trying to help each other. I just looked this up and saw its not real. But thanks for trying to help others.

I mean I don't want to call them out on being dumb for posting ANYTHING they see...

But the bombardment of fake stories just on FB alone is unbelievable!

Message edited 1/20/2017 9:53:47 AM.

Re: Fake News- Fake forwards -fake crap on FB (Not political)

It's always disturbing to me how people blindly take anything they see on FB as gospel and then spread it like wild fire.

A year or so ago there was a fake map going around prediciting a huge blizzard for certain dates- but it was from like 5 years ago.

But it got shared and forwarded and spread like wild fire.

Someone else recently posted about a cop being shot- and was like- I can't believe this happened again- it was on the heels of a few other cops being shot. But when I clicked on the article it was from 2013.

It really bothers me when people can't take a second to do some due diligence before spreading that stuff around.

Re: Fake News- Fake forwards -fake crap on FB (Not political)

Honestly, I don't even read most of the emails I get from certain people. They are never real. If they sound outrageous it's because they are made up. And I don't waste my time trying to prove it to them. For some reason I don't think they care lol.

If they bring it in person I will say "OMG that's crazy and sounds so dangerous" and then I'll google it in front of them "to get more info" at which point I act surprised that google is saying the news story is not real. It doesn't stop them from sending new chain emails the very next day, but it's something.

Re: Fake News- Fake forwards -fake crap on FB (Not political)

It's amazing what people will blindly believe because they read it on the Internet....

I'm teaching DC, "Assume everything on the Internet is false until you verify it" Sometimes "verifying" means it comes from a reputable source. Other times, verifying means checking a (or several) 3rd party (Snopes, Politifact, FactCheck, etc). Other times it means finding multiple independent sources of the information.

We have the entire world's information at our fingertips. It's not that hard to look things up....

Fake News- Fake forwards -fake crap on FB (Not political)

Some people believe everything they read without researching it first. I mostly ignore those posts but sometimes some are just so ridiculous that I ask them if they googled it because it's totally false.

I agree with GoldenRod, I too tell my DD to research everything she sees on the internet before she believes it. The internet and youtube are filled with nonfactual junk.