With social media making it Easier than ever to share information, it has also made it really convenient to spread rumours and misinformation. I remember (in the early 1990s) receiving a post card asking us to write 'Sri Rama Jayam' (or variants) on 25 other cards and post it to 25 other people, failing which a calamity would befall us.
The internet made it much easier for unfortunate Nigerians to reach out to their potential benefactors, provided us with unique opportunities to make it with our crushes/sweethearts, and even a chance for Bill Gates to share his wealth with deserving internet junkies like us. It has 'saved' us from eating wax in the form of instant noodles, plastic in the form of Kurkure, and from many other such disasters.
People who share these 'forwards' do not seem to care much about propagating untruths. Some are especially ruthless in how many such messages they forward per day/week. It's almost as if they're playing passing the parcel (with a hot iron rod as the parcel) and must give away to another what they have just received - the very next instant - or their hands will burn!
And, for some reason, I have this itch to respond to every such message received with a link debunking its validity. To the extent I'm seen as a pain in some of the Whatsapp groups I'm in.
"Why can't you just ignore and scroll past?"
"Because I don't want more people spreading these lies! Why can't you cross-check before sharing it?"
"I get hundreds of such messages everyday. I can't check them all! I just think if someone can benefit from it, let them. If it's not true, what's the harm?"
"Lots! Panic can be created, brands can be ruined...I can go on! Just the thought of junk getting lodged in people's minds boggles my mind!"
I may have lost an acquaintance or two since (bye bye). These days, the trend is for people to share such messages with a disclaimer that they believe absolves them of all responsibility: "Forwarded as received."
The internet made it much easier for unfortunate Nigerians to reach out to their potential benefactors, provided us with unique opportunities to make it with our crushes/sweethearts, and even a chance for Bill Gates to share his wealth with deserving internet junkies like us. It has 'saved' us from eating wax in the form of instant noodles, plastic in the form of Kurkure, and from many other such disasters.
People who share these 'forwards' do not seem to care much about propagating untruths. Some are especially ruthless in how many such messages they forward per day/week. It's almost as if they're playing passing the parcel (with a hot iron rod as the parcel) and must give away to another what they have just received - the very next instant - or their hands will burn!
And, for some reason, I have this itch to respond to every such message received with a link debunking its validity. To the extent I'm seen as a pain in some of the Whatsapp groups I'm in.
"Why can't you just ignore and scroll past?"
"Because I don't want more people spreading these lies! Why can't you cross-check before sharing it?"
"I get hundreds of such messages everyday. I can't check them all! I just think if someone can benefit from it, let them. If it's not true, what's the harm?"
"Lots! Panic can be created, brands can be ruined...I can go on! Just the thought of junk getting lodged in people's minds boggles my mind!"
I may have lost an acquaintance or two since (bye bye). These days, the trend is for people to share such messages with a disclaimer that they believe absolves them of all responsibility: "Forwarded as received."
