Have you ever seen a Facebook post, tweet or YouTube video that was just plain wrong? We’ve all seen them. Sometimes we breeze right by them, sometimes they give us a chuckle and we go on with our day…but sometimes the subject matter is something we’re passionate about.
Well, before you ride to the rescue of the now misinformed residents of the Internet by clicking, liking, commenting, forwarding or sharing, proceed with caution.
Every time you engage with content on social media, you’re (essentially) endorsing it. The algorithms that decide which posts are popular and which are unpopular use indicators like traffic, interaction and sharing to decide what’s trending. Those algorithms are incredibly advanced and complex, but they simply don’t have the power to read the content and make an educated decision on the validity of the content.
Think back to your childhood and something that troubled you – like a mosquito bite. Odds are, your parents told you to ignore it. Pretend it isn’t there and it’ll go away. But, itch it (as you inevitably did) and it got worse and lasted longer.
Social media is the same way. When you see something amiss, follow these three golden rules:
- Don’t Click It.
- Don’t Comment.
- Don’t Share It (or distribute it online in any way!).
Some of the people sharing this content are doing it because they want to cause controversy. In this case, the worst thing you can do is interact with them. They crave the attention and the drama, and any rebuttal you offer will simply fan the flames.
Others share content because they don’t realise it’s inaccurate. Good content is well-written, can be easily fact-checked, cites sources for information that isn’t common knowledge and doesn’t employ a sensationalised headline to hook readers.
If You Must Respond…
Want to respond to a friend who has inadvertently shared misinformation? Message or contact them directly. But, before you pin on your Internet Sherriff badge remember that a kind and sympathetic approach will be better received than an accusatory one!
If you’re hearing rumours across your newsfeed, post or share content from a reputable source on your own profile page. As always, ignore the source of the rumours. Don’t link or share the post that prompted you to post your own rebuttal.
Need to Take it to the Next Level?
If you believe the negative posts need further remediation, you can report the content to the website hosting it. Facebook, for example, reviews reported content against their Terms of Use. You can also report the content to the relevant parties.
If misinformed content disparages Isagenix or its products, please report it (with a link this time) to Compliance@IsagenixCorp.com and the company will address it with an appropriate response or through legal means.
Where can you find reputable, factual information about Isagenix, our products, our business opportunity and our Associates? We’ve got you covered at IsagenixHeath.net, IsaFYI.com and IsaGeeks.com! Sign up for our RSS feeds to stay up-to-date on all of the news from Isagenix.
