Social media is untrustworthy. It is, at times, deceiving and misleading. Humans are the cause as well as the victims. People are very gullible. However, it is their job to see through deception.
There once was a group of Asian people who wanted to find jobs in England because the pay was high. However, they did not have the money to afford a plane. Instead, they decided to unlawfully ride the back of a grocery truck that is delivering to England. The trunk was very warm, and the people overheated to death. News broke out in the British news organization: “Chinese People Overheated in Grocery Truck” (I don’t know, something like this). Now the whole world knows that the people in the truck who died were “Chinese.” As it turns out, the police officers later identified the people as Vietnamese. However, the Chinese were seen as being crafty and dishonest.
Why is this? Why do people falsely accuse and just get away with it? How can this story even be believed? How do I even know if it is true?
Hear this other one. There once was a person who was driving, and he saw another person in front of him, pointing a rifle in front of him. The driver quickly backed up. At a safe distance, the driver picked up his phone, dialed 911, and the police came. The gun owner was arrested. Just like the other incident, news reporters came and reported this incident: “Gunner Threatens to Assault Driver.” But that is not the truth. The driver had tried to ram the gun owner before with his car. The gun carrier only pulled out his gun for self-defense.
What is the theme? Do not trust social media. As for the news reporters, they should not directly jump to conclusions before fully knowing and understanding the event. People must see through deception, and separate between truth or falsity. We have no information on if a certain piece of information is true or not. We need someone to check the facts. And as Sinan Aral says, “Who is checking the fact-checkers?” We can never be sure if something is true unless the results are successful. That is only obtained from your own experience. Once you’ve gained experience, you will be able to know the truth.