Internet BS
Recently I received (by means of a forwarded email) a classic example or the type of bullshit going around on the internet. By “bullshit” I mean information that is presented as fact, when in truth it is nothing of the sort.
The sad part is that most people don’t take the time to verify this kind of thing, and they end up believing lies.
I’m not going to post the full message here because it is false — but I will post the ironic part. The subject of the message was “Taxes – very important”, and one of the very first things in the message was this line:
Check this out. Go to Snopes.com and in the SEARCH box, type ‘Proposed Tax Changes’. Check it out, it’s interesting and factual.
The thing is, if you take a few seconds to actually verify that claim, you’ll learn that the email is FALSE — this information is at the very same site the email claims backs it up!!
So why am I sharing this? To stress (again) the importance of fact checking – anything you see on the internet, whether it’s email, a blog, and especially political ads.
Now that McCain has openly said he’s going even more negative, this is even more important! Unfortunately both candidates twist the truth sometimes… Just do me a favor and look it up before you believe it, forward it, etc.
Where can I look things up? Here are a few (in no particular order):
- TruthOrFiction.com
- Snopes.com
- FactCheck.org
- Washington Post Fact Checker
- PolitiFact.com
- FightTheSmears.com
- FactCheck.BarackObama.com
- Wikipedia
The point is – be responsible, know your facts, and believe something because you’ve researched it – not just because somebody told you something or (God forbid) you got an email about it.
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This entry was posted on Sunday, October 5th, 2008 at 7:56 am and is filed under Internet, Political. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
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