Ric Hangs Up His Cape

I love Facebook. I love the fact that I remain in contact with friends and family despite living so far away from them all. I love making new friends from all over the world that share my interests and open the door for me to new ideas.

I also love the access to information provided by Facebook by way of friends sharing stuff they come across or stuff directly from special interest pages. I also love the fun stuff that people share and yes, I admit it, I love the cats.

But it isn't all fun and cats on Facebook. Sometimes friends share stuff, in good faith, that isn't always the truth. A lot of this stuff is really interesting and it makes me want to share it forward. Being the cynic I am  though I try to check out the veracity of the stuff I share and am amazed by the amount of stuff being shared,  apparently from impeccable sources, that are actually blatant lies.

Now most of the time the lies being circulated are harmless like the list of sayings and their origins from ages past or heartwarming stories of old people or life affirming stories of lessons from nameless teachers. It might be a load of cods wallop, but they don't really affect anyone in a negative way.

Unfortunately there is the dark side of the open internet where information purportedly from respected medical institutions is passed off as real or photos of kids in hospital looking for "likes" in exchange for health. Medical misinformation can lead to dangerous outcomes and even death. Photos of sick kids used without permission for nefarious purposes is an insult to the families and can cause great discomfort to them.

Then there is the middle of the road stuff. Like and share this photo of a clover and you will receive good luck. Pretty harmless raising of people's hopes, but nasty nevertheless.

I saw an opportunity to be the Friendly Super Hero and let people know that the stuff they were sharing was lies. I would post a comment on their share to that effect and even politely put in a link to the source of my information in the hopes that they would realise the possible harm their information was doing and make use of the offered source in the future to check out stuff before they shared it in the future.

Well occasionally I get a thank you. Now and then I get a "mind your own bloody business". And always they continue to share the lies. I guess they think they are doing good and that I am just a painfull do gooder.

Yes I get it. I am not The Caped Crusader. I am the Major Pain In The Ass. Accordingly, and to the great relief of many I am sure, I am hanging up my cape. But remember this. Just because I don't point out the lies and you can't be bothered to verify the information, they are still lies.