If you’ve been on Facebook at all, you’ve probably
seen those pleading posts, featuring a very sick child
or a suffering animal. Often the posts also show a
picture of Jesus, with a request for the viewer to take
action.
“Type Amen for this baby and share,” the post
commands. “Keep scrolling if you’re heartless.”
Pretty soon, sometimes even in the course of hours
or a few days, that Facebook post can be seen on the
walls and news feeds of thousands of presumably
well-meaning people.
When it comes to posts like this, one share does NOT
equal one prayer. One like does NOT mean you think
the baby with a physical disability or difference is
“still cute.” One comment does NOT mean the
sick child or abused puppy “will be saved.”
Here’s what you’re actually doing when you type
Amen or share the photo on your wall:
1. You’re exploiting what is most likely a stolen
image of a child whose family has no idea it is
being used.
2. You’re making the owners of the page that
posted it or the twisted people who stole the
photo and created the post a whole lot of
money.
Why do people steal and use images of sick babies or
suffering creatures without permission? Typically,
because of scams like this, as detailed in this article
by Consumer Affairs:
Since Facebook’s algorithms place a high value on
popularity (as measured by likes and shares), these
highly liked and shared pages therefore have a
much higher chance of appearing in people’s
“Feeds” and being seen by other Facebook
users. Then, once the page has a sufficiently high
popularity rating, the like-farmer either removes the
page’s original content and replaces it with
something else (usually malware or scam
advertising); leaves the page as is and uses it as a
platform for continued like-farming in order to
spread malware, collect people’s marketing
information or engage in other harmful activities; or
outright sells the highly liked site to cybercriminals
in a black market web forum.
When you engage with posts like this, you make them
popular. When they’re popular, the owner of the page
can then sell it.
Unfortunately, children with ichthyosis are often the
subject of many of these posts, because the
condition is so physically noticeable and can often be
shocking to people who haven’t seen it before.
Brenna’s photo and the photos of many others in our
ichthyosis community have been stolen and used for
posts like these. I’m grateful that it hasn’t happened
to our family very often, but it shouldn’t happen at all,
and it is a common recurrence among the many
families we know whose children have ichthyosis.
When you don’t want to be “heartless,” so you
respond to the request for “One Share = One Prayer”
by sharing the image with your friends, you’re
actually doing very real harm. Please think twice
before you like, comment or share any posts like this
on Facebook.
#OnlineThreat

I no longer do such.

The best I do is say it vocally, that's prayer too.

More ridiculous are the post with pictures attached to a 'fabricated story' claiming to be real life stories, and by typing 'Amen' you avert such unfortunate themes in their stories.

junnyjake:
I no longer do such.

The best I do is say it vocally, that's prayer too.

More ridiculous are the post with pictures attached to a 'fabricated story' claiming to be real life stories, and by typing 'Amen' you avert such unfortunate themes in their stories.

You are right.