Those questions rang so familiar to me that I thought they must be the motto of the Kiwanis Club or the Rotarians. When I googled the phrases I ended up with number of folk stories and traditions using these questions to improve civil discourse.
The questions re-entered my conscious when I was a multiple recipient of some obnoxious political spam. I replied to one forwarder mainly because she had included so many addressees in the cc: field.
You see, I am very troubled by a new phenomenon made possible by the Internet called "viral disinformation". Like a virus it can spread incredibly fast and infect hundreds of thousands of minds in a matter of hours. But it doesn't infect your computer or your body, it infects your mind. There is no one to take credit or blame for the information which may be true, partially true, or a complete, outright lie. In fact, the more shocking it is the faster it travels. Truth doesn't seem to play a part in it.
In the past we tended to look to newspapers and network news shows which had a reputation to guard. If they helped to pass along tall tales, they would generally get called on it. Reputable newspapers and TV news programs employ fact checkers who do the necessary footwork to stop scandalous and shocking and untrue items from entering the public discourse, at least from them.
But the Internet is another matter. Anyone with an idea, a video clip, a talent for writing can put together a piece of (dis)information and send it to 50 of his closest friends or just one of these Internet Tabloid lookalikes. If it catches someone's fancy, it is forwarded further and becomes "viral". Now, no fact checker in the world can stop it. Even if the President of the United States should hold a press conference to deny the viral rumor, some would turn his denial around to say, "See, even the President is worried that too many people have found out about this secret deal."
It was here in my thinking that I asked myself, "So how do we stop these viruses?" I think a start are these three questions: The next time you're tempted to pass on an information virus, please ask yourself,
(1) "Is it true? How can I tell if this is true?"
(2) "Is it kind? Who does this message affect and how?"
(3) "Is it necessary? What would happen if I did my part to stop this virus?"
And I apologize in advance if someone has already copyrighted, patented, or registered as a trademark these three questions.
I use snopes.com to look up the truthfulness of some posts. Works pretty well for "urban legends" and some other posts. Haven't tried it on political stuff
ReplyDeleteMarilyn from Florida
I too check information with snopes.com. It is better than nothing, but may have some failings. Short of personal knowledge, I guess we have to rely on others, with a bit of skepticism. Forget newspapers and many news television programs. They all have so much bias as to be spurious. Common sense also helps.
ReplyDeleteI think that even the best of us tend to ignore common sense if the information plays to our previous suspicions/expectations. I've done it and I like to think I question most information I get. The best thing I have found so far is politifact.com. They seem to both applaud the president and blast him so they appear to be trying to stay unbiased.
ReplyDeleteSnopes is good for basic facts but I haven't seen any serious political discussions on their site. I haven't seen politifact.com until now but it looks like it could be fair and balanced. Personally, I get my facts from The Daily Show where there is equal opportunity roasting of all sides of the political spectrum. They roast so called legitimate news rooms but they even roast themselves to keep everything in balance.
ReplyDeleteArnold
I think viral disinformation existed (from the media) long before the internet - media including advertisers.
ReplyDelete