I’d dare to say that everyone has at least one family member who has questionable online tactics. For me, I have one entire side of my family who I feel needs to be checked. The “Grandmother Problem”, or posting content that isn’t quite appropriate or fact-checked due to not knowing better, does not only apply to grandmothers and other elderly folk. It can apply to anyone who does not take the time to look at the information before posting it.
For example, my cousins and their family are very extreme in their political views. So extreme, in fact, I had to unfollow them (not unfriend them, I don’t want family get-togethers to be awkward). They repost articles, memes, videos, and quotes that are not based on factual evidence, but more so simply opinion, gossip, and twisted words.
The thing is, they don’t post any original thoughts where they have done the research and can speak on a topic. It is all regurgitated information that sounds correct to them.
Now this is where it gets difficult. Perhaps unfollowing them was not the right answer… there might have been a more constructive way to deal with this. In the spirit of full transparency, I do not have the guts to stand up to my family members when it comes to political views and iffy social network posts. So these “fixes” will be hypothetical.
Earlier in this course, we were assigned to read a very helpful BuzzFeed article called: “What To Do If The Older People In Your Life Are Sharing False Or Extreme Content“. I am able to apply these same concepts to my cousins not because they are too old to understand how to be media literate, but because they choose not to do the research.
One of the pointers that stood out to me from this article was to be kind when discussing these posts. Nothing gets done with harsh words on the internet, plus in the aftermath, you’ll have to see them at family reunions. These aren’t the faceless trolls you see in the Facebook comment sections. Being positive will make it more likely for these family members to actually listen.
Another tip that this article gives is to let the person research the information on Google. I might hesitate to do this in some situations because I think it’s very easy to find content that supports your views and the same falsified videos/content CAN be found on Google as well. I don’t know if they would necessarily check the source. It might not be the most productive method.
All this in mind, I want to make sure I’m checking myself as well. While I hope they would have an open mind, I need to expect the same for myself. How am I supposed to provide articles and information to educate others if I’m not able to be educated myself? I think this is probably the most important step in all of this. An open, positive dialogue in both directions.
