Social Media Messages and News - Stop First to Think

It is usually in our human nature to share experiences, knowledge, news and information.

One may expect human beings to gather around physically and face each other to do so, but this is no longer necessary.

They come in various forms in our contemporary world. We need not even speak to each other, but transmit almost instantaneously what we share in graphics, videos, pictures, text and more. Such startlingly efficient sharing communication is enabled by code, artificial intelligence, analytical cookies, wi-fi, gateways and monitored channels.

We do so with rising expectations of the quick and easy. The convenience can come with a cost.

We learn to lower our trust levels when messages in whatever format can be tampered with an intent to manipulate.

Racial, religious and political matters are especially vulnerable to be disseminated with an intent to arouse our deep set emotions, stir our beliefs and shake our convictions.

Hence the rise of the risks in whether things shared are authentic.

What are the signals that alert us to a higher possibility of receiving mischevious, false, compromised and tampered messages?

1. Messages featuring provocative negativity or over rated hope on an uneven emphasis.
2. Messages with no ownership and attachments with no trace of a time stamp.
3. Messages with sensational graphics and tone of voice over.
4. Messages with images that cannot be authenticated and so can be put out of context.
5. Messages from unknown and highly dubious websites.
6. Messages that test your inner instinct of being too good to be true, or make you want to authenticate further.
7. Messages from parties known to slip through fake news to you.
8. Messages sent instantaneously to groups of recipients can signal higher risks.
9. Messages from unknown or untraceable parties and yet claims to originate from famous persons.
10. Messages that intensify matters when every one should step back and calm down.

Each of us can just respect and utilise our own level of intelligence to avoid being sucked into furthering the progress of social media messages that cause problems if shared.

Step back from a message received if the first gut feel is bad on a suspicious message.
Always question the agenda of the party who shared the stirring message to you.

You can be the only person to break the chain of such suspicious messages. In the end, it is best not to respond.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Vietnam - Some Souvenirs

Image
Vietnam is a prime exporter of agricultural products, like rice, rubber,coffee and pepper, but to individual visitors, what comes across remarkably are lacquered products , embroidery, pottery, silk fabrics, weaved craft, stone carvings, bamboo and rattan articles, ceramic, wooden contraptions and paintings.  This is a result of long established cultural traditions and a developing economy.  The majority of the current population is under 30 years old, laden with the enthusiasm, agility and promise of youth.  The centre of handicraft is still central Vietnam, with the hub around Hue and Hoi An. You can see many water colours offered by local artists in shops, markets and pavement stalls.  I was more fascinated by origami-like paper cuts which you can come across being sold by vendors all over the place.  Best of all are the hang lanterns, available in all sizes, which are made from varying qualities of Vietnamese silk fabric, the best of which a...
Read more

Aunty Gaik Lian's - Straits Chinese, Georgetown, Penang

Image
A simple but appetising egg omelette as starters. Gulai Ikan Tumis or sour and spicy fish curry. The previous long standing branch of jewellers B.P De Silva, almost at the corner of Bishop and Beach streets in the old quarter of Georgetown, has a few months ago been transformed into a hub of Straits Chinese cuisine. Straddling two shop lots, located in an evening quiet location but near to the banking district on  business days, Aunty Gaik Lian's provides a refreshing change to the Nyonya food landscape on Penang island.  I have always found that the best Straits Chinese food is found in homes in Penang, like what my Mum dishes out, and it has been exasperating to be really satisfied with commercial outlets in this cuisine.  The Penang variation of such Peranakan food tends to be more influenced by ingredients and cooking styles from Thailand and the Malayan peninsular , when compared to the Malacca version (with more of stronger Indonesian influences and the ...
Read more

85 Degrees Bakery Cafe Hurstville NSW

Image
There are several outlets of this bakery cafe for several years now in Australia.  Did they coem from the USA? Each franchised outlet is in a busy area, often in suburbs so-called by a diverse Asian demographic.   The one in Hurstville is rather roomy and lots of baked stuff on its shelves.   The base of Sydney operations is in Chester Hill, a suburb south-west of the Sydney city centre. Some of the cake creations would be viewed as rather leaning on the East Asian dimension  - Strawberry Angel (with chocolate base and top) and Mango Cheese ( with yoghurt).   However, to counter this perspective, there are also Death by Chocolate, US Cheesecake, Coffee Brulee and Blueberry Marble options.     The pastries are definitely filled with ingredients more suited to perhaps  Anime loving fans and non-mainstream cultures - for example, garlic, pork, tuna, green tea, red bean, shallots, pork floss, coconut, Hokkaido butter cream...
Read more