As I scroll through Facebook, I see friends and family posting about their lives, views, and families and all is fine and dandy- at least that’s originally the case, up until I see uncle Tim posting about how vaccines and tide pods have the same ingredients and how we’re all going to die.
The truth is, the majority of the younger generation have a much better chance of being able to differentiate fact and fiction on the internet in comparison to our older generation. The internet came later in the older generation’s lives, and a lot of them had less of a chance to learn the ins and outs of internet. As a result of this, it’s not uncommon to see our older loved ones posting things that are obviously false to the rest of us.
Now, I’m not saying that the younger generation are experts at sharing news on the internet either- everyone has a slip up every once in a while, and I believe there are certain ways to go about approaching people who are sharing false information on your news feed.
1. Approach them about the mistake privately.
If possible, don’t attack them on their post where everyone else can see it- it would just embarrass them and most likely cause them to get defensive. Message them privately and gently tell them that the information they are sharing isn’t correct.
2. Send them links to correct information and their sources.
Do a quick google search and find some reliable sources that are posting correct information on the topic, and send them the links to those articles. Add in that all you did was a quick search on google news to find these sources, and send them the link to that page as well.
3. Be non-confrontational.
These people are probably not even aware that they are sharing false information, so give them a break. Don’t attack them for getting it wrong, remind them that fake information is everywhere, and it’s easy to share it if you don’t know that you’re looking for. Remind them that you are trying to help them, not hurt them. Help them understand- you’re on their side!
Overall, just be nice! Everyone makes mistakes, and that includes you. Think about how you would want to be approached if you shared an incorrect article, and go from there. We can stop the spread of false information one step at a time!
