Managing Spread of Fake News

Hello! I have been off this page for a while. I am glad to be back and I hope to stay more active.

The spread of fake news particularly over social media has become so rampant and worrisome. Some people seem to deliberately  misinform and another set are on standby to run with this falsehood.

I asked friends via social media handle “Why do we easily fall prey to fake/false news?”

I got some interesting responses.

Nwaeke Raymond said “Lack of patience towards proper research!!”

Paul Onyebi “Hmn! Some people are eagerly waiting for it o. In a joint someone talked about the progress in the 2nd Niger Bridge project and gave kudos to PMB. Another person countered him with “na lie nothing dey there”. My sister the crowd followed the fake news bearer even with photos and videos of the project on hand.”

“Because these news often coincide with and confirm our mischievous thoughts.” Jamiu Ojorungbe 

Adedire Adewole “The writer knows what interest many people, what they want to hear, so they rush to make comments.”

According to Ibiso Lillian Dagogo “it’s because some people want to be faster than their shadows“. I smiled.  

“When the truth is rejected, lies are the only remaining option. I would say pride is probably the main reason for forwarding things, thinking it’ll make us look smart or interesting if we do. I believe a lot of the messages that are forwarded a lot are manufactured by people with a specific agenda. And they are smart enough to play upon our fears and prejudices so that we believe what they say and begin to act on it. Because there is some truth involved, we figure that the parts we are not sure of must be true as well. We feel validated when someone expresses our concerns more eloquently.” Jan Merour responded.

In my opinion, we should pay more attention to the information that comes to us and how we use it. Falsehood creates distortions in the airspace. And when ever we run with such information it places a huge question mark on our integrity!

Whats your take? We would like to learn from you. 

Much respect.