As a consumer of social media, all this talk on gun control has made me a bit...exhausted. Don't get me wrong, I love that we're talking about it because frankly, it's definitely something that needs to be discussed. Whether you're on the left or right side of the conversation, it's important that you are contributing your voice. However, I've seen too many people who are oblivious to the kind of content they're sharing. It's gotten to the point where social media has become a cesspool of uninformative, exaggerated, and biased news because of the ignorance of that sharing.
I know, I know, it sounds very harsh. But it should be.
Because we aren't just talking about Tide Pods here, this is about innocent people who are being affected for the rest of their lives by tragedies like Columbine, Sandy Hook, and many others. And it's STILL happening.
So let's continue the conversation, but let's do it in an educated manner.
Because I'm tired of seeing people sharing the fake news. I'm tired of seeing people falling for fake news. And I'm tired of seeing everyone becoming more divided because they're not informing themselves and mindlessly sharing information.
Don't think this applies to you? Take a look at where the information you're sharing is coming from.
Do you know where that information came from? If not, don't share it.
Is there a link to a reliable source? If not, don't share it. (DO YOUR RESEARCH ON THIS, NOT ALL NEWS SOURCES ARE RELIABLE.)
Is your post in the form of a meme? If it is, for the love of all that is good please don't share it.
Ask yourself the big questions. Ask yourself: If someone were to challenge me on this subject, would I be able to defend my opinion and be able to say where I got my information?
If you ever say that you got your opinion from something you saw on Facebook, you should reevaluate your opinion. Because there are so many scholarly articles and reliable sources out there that you should be looking at instead.
Social media is now designed to over-saturate your news feed with media that is aimed to get you to click on it. Media gets their money based on how much their content is shared and on how many clicks they get.
So, for everyone's sake, if you have not done any research on gun control, please don't share your opinions. Let's actively trying to reform the content we share on the internet by educating ourselves and not basing our opinions based on things we've seen on social media.
