FAKE, MISLEADING AND FALSE INFORMATION ON SOCIAL MEDIA AND INTERNET......*

My pieces of advice

1. When you see a sensational post that borders on the following issues

A) Generating Fear in people about a product health implications

For example the fake plastic rice story or Chinese are selling human parts.

B) Medical information on the benefit or harm of a particular item be it natural or manufactured.

C) Political statements that appear smart by a prominent political icon or public figure. Examples like Mugabe, Trump, Obama, Buhari, Soyinka etc

D) If it is too good to be true or too bad to be true. Most likely not true.

E) If it has been circulating for a long time and the story is the same, for example ' Pray for 20 Christians in Afghanistan who are to be executed. Denmark is planning to burn Quran next Saturday. Do not drink Pepsi in the next few weeks. It is probably not true but they are usually outdated news. Most often the Author refuses to put the specific date, month or year to make it appear as if it is current or futuristic.

F) Posts that malign or denigrate individuals or tribe, religions, nations or communities. For instance Donald Trump claims Nigerians are criminals and their leaders thieves hence they should be deported or prevented from coming to the USA.

G) Photo shopped pictures of political or public icons making some political or religious statements.

e.g Mrs Obama and bring back our girls or Trump and Bring Back God to the White House.

H) Posts from partisan political or tribal blogs or websites.

I) Be suspicious when the message ask you to share the information to ALL your contacts NOW. They are probably afraid of giving you time to reflect on the information and act rationally.

J) Beware when a statement makes a magical claim like 'send this message to ten contacts and your phone battery would be fully charged' If this were so, we would all have dumped our charger.

K) Discard messages that ask you to share a particular piece of information or pictures to so many number of people to raise money for a cause or a sick person. Someone somewhere is probably taking you for a ride because nobody is counting the number of times a message is circulated.

L) Trash messages which seek to blackmail you emotionally. Messages like 'only a bad person would not share this broadcast ' 'I have saved your life by sharing this message. Save other lives by sharing too'

WHAT TO DO WITH SUCH POSTS

1. Don't be in a hurry to circulate such information to avoid being a busy body or peddlers of lies. Remember the 4 way test.

2. Inbox the Author of the post and ask for credible evidence, links and facts.

3. Where the post is a medical issue, consult a Professional Physician or relevant authority

4. Type the title of the post in search engines like Google, Yahoo, MSN, Bing etc and place hoax or spam at the back.

For example "Donald Trump plan to arrest Buhari hoax"

5. Go to Snopes.com which is a reliable website that busts myths, scams and hoaxes. Type the particular topic in their search box.

It is better to be careful than to strive to be the first person to disseminate information that may not be true, thereby damaging your reputation.
FAKE, MISLEADING AND FALSE INFORMATION ON SOCIAL MEDIA AND INTERNET......*

My pieces of advice

1. When you see a sensational post that borders on the following issues

A) Generating Fear in people about a product health implications

For example the fake plastic rice story or Chinese are selling human parts.

B) Medical information on the benefit or harm of a particular item be it natural or manufactured.

C) Political statements that appear smart by a prominent political icon or public figure. Examples like Mugabe, Trump, Obama, Buhari, Soyinka etc

D) If it is too good to be true or too bad to be true. Most likely not true.

E) If it has been circulating for a long time and the story is the same, for example ' Pray for 20 Christians in Afghanistan who are to be executed. Denmark is planning to burn Quran next Saturday. Do not drink Pepsi in the next few weeks. It is probably not true but they are usually outdated news. Most often the Author refuses to put the specific date, month or year to make it appear as if it is current or futuristic.

F) Posts that malign or denigrate individuals or tribe, religions, nations or communities. For instance Donald Trump claims Nigerians are criminals and their leaders thieves hence they should be deported or prevented from coming to the USA.

G) Photo shopped pictures of political or public icons making some political or religious statements.

e.g Mrs Obama and bring back our girls or Trump and Bring Back God to the White House.

H) Posts from partisan political or tribal blogs or websites.

I) Be suspicious when the message ask you to share the information to ALL your contacts NOW. They are probably afraid of giving you time to reflect on the information and act rationally.

J) Beware when a statement makes a magical claim like 'send this message to ten contacts and your phone battery would be fully charged' If this were so, we would all have dumped our charger.

K) Discard messages that ask you to share a particular piece of information or pictures to so many number of people to raise money for a cause or a sick person. Someone somewhere is probably taking you for a ride because nobody is counting the number of times a message is circulated.

L) Trash messages which seek to blackmail you emotionally. Messages like 'only a bad person would not share this broadcast ' 'I have saved your life by sharing this message. Save other lives by sharing too'

WHAT TO DO WITH SUCH POSTS

1. Don't be in a hurry to circulate such information to avoid being a busy body or peddlers of lies. Remember the 4 way test.

2. Inbox the Author of the post and ask for credible evidence, links and facts.

3. Where the post is a medical issue, consult a Professional Physician or relevant authority

4. Type the title of the post in search engines like Google, Yahoo, MSN, Bing etc and place hoax or spam at the back.

For example "Donald Trump plan to arrest Buhari hoax"

5. Go to Snopes.com which is a reliable website that busts myths, scams and hoaxes. Type the particular topic in their search box.

It is better to be careful than to strive to be the first person to disseminate information that may not be true, thereby damaging your reputation.
FAKE, MISLEADING AND FALSE INFORMATION ON SOCIAL MEDIA AND INTERNET......*

My pieces of advice

1. When you see a sensational post that borders on the following issues

A) Generating Fear in people about a product health implications

For example the fake plastic rice story or Chinese are selling human parts.

B) Medical information on the benefit or harm of a particular item be it natural or manufactured.

C) Political statements that appear smart by a prominent political icon or public figure. Examples like Mugabe, Trump, Obama, Buhari, Soyinka etc

D) If it is too good to be true or too bad to be true. Most likely not true.

E) If it has been circulating for a long time and the story is the same, for example ' Pray for 20 Christians in Afghanistan who are to be executed. Denmark is planning to burn Quran next Saturday. Do not drink Pepsi in the next few weeks. It is probably not true but they are usually outdated news. Most often the Author refuses to put the specific date, month or year to make it appear as if it is current or futuristic.

F) Posts that malign or denigrate individuals or tribe, religions, nations or communities. For instance Donald Trump claims Nigerians are criminals and their leaders thieves hence they should be deported or prevented from coming to the USA.

G) Photo shopped pictures of political or public icons making some political or religious statements.

e.g Mrs Obama and bring back our girls or Trump and Bring Back God to the White House.

H) Posts from partisan political or tribal blogs or websites.

I) Be suspicious when the message ask you to share the information to ALL your contacts NOW. They are probably afraid of giving you time to reflect on the information and act rationally.

J) Beware when a statement makes a magical claim like 'send this message to ten contacts and your phone battery would be fully charged' If this were so, we would all have dumped our charger.

K) Discard messages that ask you to share a particular piece of information or pictures to so many number of people to raise money for a cause or a sick person. Someone somewhere is probably taking you for a ride because nobody is counting the number of times a message is circulated.

L) Trash messages which seek to blackmail you emotionally. Messages like 'only a bad person would not share this broadcast ' 'I have saved your life by sharing this message. Save other lives by sharing too'

WHAT TO DO WITH SUCH POSTS

1. Don't be in a hurry to circulate such information to avoid being a busy body or peddlers of lies. Remember the 4 way test.

2. Inbox the Author of the post and ask for credible evidence, links and facts.

3. Where the post is a medical issue, consult a Professional Physician or relevant authority

4. Type the title of the post in search engines like Google, Yahoo, MSN, Bing etc and place hoax or spam at the back.

For example "Donald Trump plan to arrest Buhari hoax"

5. Go to Snopes.com which is a reliable website that busts myths, scams and hoaxes. Type the particular topic in their search box.

It is better to be careful than to strive to be the first person to disseminate information that may not be true, thereby damaging your reputation.