“Don’t Believe Everything On The Internet” Is Still Relevant

If you’ve been on the Internet for any serious amount of time, you may have noticed something about it. I’m talking about one of the aspects that’s changed our modern day lives and the way we consume information, how things can spread “viral”.
It’s just like a virus, proliferating as many corners of it’s host as it can. That’s the type of allusion that’s made with how videos and information ("viruses”) get popular on the net (“host”). There can be little to stifle this kind of growth at times, and even many governments can have a hard times doing so, if and when they try.
Gone are the days when you have to use just “snail” mail, word of mouth, television, and physical newspapers or anything of that nature to get information anywhere near far enough.
Because of the Internet, we are no longer strongly limited by long waiting times, physical limitations, or having to be approved by printing and broadcasting companies.
I’m sure it’s something that seems like common sense for most, however:
What does this truly mean though?

It means that in combination with our drives as humans, seeking knowledge in our own ways and as inherently “social creatures”, as we are classified as, we spread false information at a higher rate than legitimate news as denoted by this Smithsonian Magazine article.
But that’s just the nature of a fast growing tech age where every other area of our lives is slow to adapt and handle the full ramifications of this rapidly changing time. Right?
Well, it’s become a real problem. It affects the way we interact with each other and respond to the world.
As much as we would like to think ourselves immune to any and all tricks ever, we are fallible and a part of a society that is also human and flawed. As a group, we are very much influenced by herd and group mentality. We follow others and their decisions, or identify ourselves heavily with an identity even as simple and arbitrary as being a consumer of a certain brand. And those that express isolationism as a desirable pursuit or denounce others as mindless drones, are still part of a trend and fall into a mental trap that they are secure because of the way they view the world cynically. That isn’t the answer, and instead worsens your health and how you relate to everything else. You aren’t being original in your misanthropy, you’re just hurting yourself and are susceptible to going deeper and deeper, believing similarly bleak views.
Not only that, but we are surrounded by and interact heavily with devices that have access to the Internet and other forms of communication. This is a bad set-up for when you don’t want to be a part of a volatile environment, isn’t it?

To further Illustrate how much this affects our modern society, the way the internet has fostered large reproductions of misinformation, little accommodation for nuance, and an easier illusion of being able to get away with things that amplifies mischief; we have to mention actual occurrences and trends to have a less theoretical view of what’s real and happening.
Smear campaigns can happen sparked by being the wrong person in the wrong time, and you don’t even have to have actually done anything they think you have. Having your career and job taken away as a result because someone decided to falsely accuse you of something is very much a thing.
People with the wrong intentions can report you to the authorities under false pretenses using the easier accessibility to your information and location by doxxing you, and they could very much call the SWAT on you.
Harmful “advice” can be spoken as the truth, whether that’s from ignorance or malice, and can even cause mental and physical damage. For example, “life hacks” that result in exposing yourself to dangerous substances or causing harmful chemical reactions.
There is the way too common spreading of fear-mongering stories, filling the masses with paranoia, especially when any major event happens. Or misinforming critical details of events. As it happens whenever someone has said “World War 3 has started!” any time anything gets politically tense.
Does this mean you have to quit using your phone entirely and follow a strict “no modern tech” mantra to pronounce yourself “enlightened”? NO!

We live in a modern age and we can’t act like many aspects of our lives and environment don’t already integrate technology and the Internet to them, even making it essential to navigate life and necessary skills. Other people in our lives will also be affected by theever-changing landscape of this digital-centric time.
This isn’t going to be an article that tells you to just wallow in how bad our current informational climate is, or to just hope that some day it’ll get fixed on it’s own. There has to be something you can do on an individual level as well, enough to influence your own thoughts and actions at least, to have a sense of control if your life and circumstance.
The answer is to Adapt. Adapt. Adapt.
Fact-check.
Use reputable sources and check if a news source is a gossipy tabloid or has reason to not report a story well — Say, being funded or a part of an organization or political party and ideology that would benefit from misinformation or having a bad reputation as a news source. Try to find as much context as you can to piece things together for yourself and don’t rely on what others have put on your dashboard or timeline.
Take a step back.
There are times you have to control your urge to act quickly and impulsively, believing whatever thing that’s presented to you, and you have to know what times you have to step back. Gather yourself before acting rashly, let yourself gather information without publicizing a reaction or sending out a link you didn’t see the full context of yet. You might find that your initial reaction would’ve been ill-advised.
Try to find a solution.
Don’t get me wrong, not everything has a solution, however cynicism and defeatism is easily spread as a sentiment these days and it can paralyze you and leave you in a hopeless state. Try to see what you can do, even as the smallest step or for yourself. Care for yourself as well. A distraught self handles problems worse, and this mental state can be easily exploited by others in making you believe negative stories that aren’t true or make you act in ways you normally wouldn’t. So try to see things in another angle.
Get off the Internet for a while.
The internet surrounds us a lot already as it is, but there’s times you can “un-plug” and you need to do that every once in a while and with frequency. Being inside the Internet Sphere with social media and the way it all works, can easily skew your perception or leave you in an echo chamber where the same things get repeated ad-nauseam, cementing them as truths regardless of if they are.
Of course, these are all things that, to this day, I am still trying to practice.
We are all flawed, and we need to acknowledge and accept that. And with that, we need to find ways to adapt to the new circumstances the Internet has brought us.