Nathaniel Barr, a Professor of Creativity and Creative Thinking, posted an article in December 2015 at QUARTZ, claiming that “Most of the information we spread online is quantifiably ‘bullshit.’”

He quotes Harry Frankfurt’s well-known essay On Bullshit, and claimed that “The internet has ushered in the Age of Bullshit.” I cannot further disagree with Barr that huge amount of information we read on the internet these days lacks in truth, as people just naturally accept and believe what is in front and given to them due to the confidence and trust they had for each other.

You might start to wonder, why do people believe in bullshit?

The main reason being that humans are just too lazy to think deeply about what is given to them. Most of them believe that the world is a beautiful place, full of fairytales and whatever is posted on the internet is definitely somewhat accurate to an extent.

However, not everyone is that considerate to one another. Hardly anyone thinks twice before uploading or posting on social media.

There are many people out there posting beautiful images about how great their lives are, where they have been traveling to and all sorts of images that glorifies their life on different social media platforms. Most people tend to create their own idealized image on their blogs or use computer soft wares to beautify themselves, just to get people to envy them or gain likes on Instagram.

But take a step back and think, are their lives really that great?

You might think, yeah, there is some out there. But, mostly not. Most of them are just average humans like you and me. Thus, most information posted on the internet is not authentic or accurate in most ways.

Do you really believe that most magazine covers really portray celebrities without electronically fabricating the images?

I guess not…

However, it is true that most people naturally turn that analytic switch in their brains off when they scroll through Instagram, Twitter or other social media platforms. Assuming that thinking analytically is just a waste of time and effort, hence simply accepting what is given to them.

As most bullshits are presented really appealing to their audiences, and humans are just susceptible to things that seem entertaining to them, people just take these uncertified, inaccurate and bullshittee news as the legitimate news. With the globalization of mass media, circulation of news just happens with a click or tap, and this so-called legitimate news is then shared across the globe.

Barr gave an example of Donald Trump, one of the US presidential candidates for the upcoming US election, repeatedly claiming that thousands of Muslims in New Jersey triumph the tragedy of 9/11, and his supporters took to social media to support his views. It is apparent to many that this is evidently bullshit. However as many of Trumps supporters are generally biased towards his ideologies and are not willing to take a step back to think analytically of what he is saying, they end up being receptive to his bullshits.

In addition, people assume that there is faith among us. They believe in one another and thus, genuinely accept news given to them. There are these elements of confidence and trust that people have for each other, and some people are taking their trust for granted by posting false news on the internet. Therefore, I feel that it is really important for people to really think before they post something or also accept information that is on the internet. We have to be considerate with one another not just physically, but also in the internet world. Hence, it is central to be truthful, authentic and accurate with news or information posted on different social platforms.

A piece of advice, just double reference what you got before really acknowledging if that is authentic or not and sharing them with your friends.