“You can only blame fake news so many times before the truth starts to emerge from the newsprint.”
― Anthony T. Hincks
We produce and change what we intercept from news, making it more comical to understand. Humans as it are in our nature when finding something extraordinary we want to make that idea our own, so we change up a few miniscule things and we republish the idea. This cycle goes on and creating a sort of spiral which when trying to get out of only makes the spiral go on ripping you along with it. Fake news has its place in the society as it is not uncommon, it changes our grasp of the world we live in, and it affects the political, media and national security. Fake news gets people believing rumors or lies about a subject. We all play a role in this vicious subject, when seeing a post or an idea without double checking we get overwhelmed and share or like it adding a few more stones into this destructible cause. It is almost unbelievable how real fake news can be seen as, an official statement can deceive you to thinking it is the real stuff and we are so persuaded by the graphics or the visual of how modernized that we believe it. Fake news behaves like a virus; it spreads faster that real news going from host to host and further on. Fake news is so often thought of as real news that they cause riots and social media sites are the sort of bay for this. Several media sites such as “Facebook” has taken these issues into account and promised to act on it.
Ways with which we can curb fake news:
- Social media influencers before sharing an idea or republishing it, check more about the history, about the idea like for example its editor, which company was it published from and whether the company has a history of publishing it. Although it may take up some time, the influencers will be valued by their viewers. It’s like a give and take relationship.
- Social media sites can also take up another step, when users want to republish an idea there can be a minimal step verification application, which makes sure the users know if they are sharing fake or misinformation, helping people make informed decisions online can be a major step to preventing the further spread of false information.
- If you happen to own any stock in twitter, or Facebook, write to the president or the board and claim you are outraged by this vicious act as it is taking a toll on your stocks if that doesn’t work, next time there’s a stock holders meeting bring up the issue, spoken well with carefully chosen words and you’re set!
Who knows? You might be stopping an online war
In a nutshell, fake news is destructive and demoralizing, which can be avoided by curbing it, we can avoid possible adverse effects and contribute to a better life around the world.
Author Bio : Mehak Reji ,from Dubai Sarjah. Secure Second Position (below 18 years category) in Monthly International Essay Competition organized by #Monomousumi
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