When scrolling through social media, I find more and more posts that include misinformation or information far from the truth. This class has truly opened my eyes to the mass amount of in my news feed from friends and family. It is an extremely tricky approach to bring this to someone’s attention.
In order to acknowledge the false information, I believe we must start from a point of caring for the individual. If they immediately feel attacked from a random call-out, then will not be accepting of any wrongdoing.
It is extremely difficult to reach out to someone we are not close friends with, so there has to be a level of trust between you and the individual. You could try reaching out to them in other ways before bringing this up, or just stick with those who already trust you and know you’re coming from a good place.
It is also very important to make sure that you are correct in calling them out. As we read this week in Chapter 5 of Mediactive, we need to be accurate, and always double or triple check the information. Cross-referencing sources is a great way to truly know if the information is correct or not. Another point in to be fair and civil, invite them to join a conversation with you, do not just talk at them.
When I think about doing this in my own life, I know if the person were immediate family or a very close friend, I would have no issue with having a discussion with them. It is those friends that are not as close that we must take extra care in reaching out to. I think it should always be a private matter, whether that is a text, phone call, or private message. I feel it is best to stay away from direct comments on the post. Those can be damaging to the friendship because it can make them feel publicly called out, embarrassed, etc.
Be encouraging! When reaching out, tell them how important it is to be aware and do our own research. It is great to share new information with others; Facebook and other social media are a good thing. We just have to make sure the information we are sharing is positive and true.
We could also go in a different direction, by posting things that we have fact checked ourselves, things that we have found to be accurate, it could shed some positive light in the overwhelmingly false newsfeed. When posting, add a description of your findings, and why you found it to be true. This is a non-confrontational approach, but it allows our friends and family to see a difference in the content we share compared to others. By being an advocate for accuracy, others may notice and start doing the same.
The ideas in this blog post are not directly from outside sources, but came from my knowledge of the readings of the textbook and class materials. These ideas are solely opinion, but ideas that I believe could help me in my personal life and relationships.
