2
Swapped my go-to news site for FactCheck.org after that vaccine article went viral
Back in 2020, I used to just skim headlines from a big name site and share stuff without thinking. then a cousin posted that wild article about vaccine microchips and I realized I had almost shared the same thing. I had to pick between sticking with that easy clickbait train or switching to a boring but real site like FactCheck. I picked the fact checker route and honestly it slowed me down at first. after 3 months I could spot the fake stats from a mile away and even called out a friend on a fake graph about election fraud. has anyone else had to unfollow a news source cold turkey because of bad info?
2 comments
Log in to join the discussion
Log In2 Comments
rileyprice1d ago
tbh when you said "this close to sharing it in the family group chat" that hit hard because I literally had my finger hovering over send on a fake stat about flu shots last year. my aunt sends me stuff from some health blog I've never heard of and I've just started replying with a screenshot of the snopes page now.
9
thomasgonzalez1d ago
That time I almost fell for the whole "5G towers cause COVID" thing... my uncle sent me a video from some channel I'd never heard of and I was this close to sharing it in the family group chat. then my buddy Jake, who actually works in telecom, called me out and explained how radio frequencies work. I had to unfollow that uncle for like 6 months just to keep the peace. eventually I came back but now I fact check everything he sends before even reading it.
6