It is a new year indeed, but unfortunately old habits, in particularly bad habits, often die hard, and sometimes they do not die at all and are carried from year to year if a person is unwilling to actively take steps towards self-improvement. Some of the most annoying of these habits happen to be ones that relate to certain people’s usage of social media, in this case, Facebook specifically. If you’re reading this reading this it’s too late—and by that I mean that by the time that you finish this article the very habit that I am referring to will have likely reared its ugly head, producing garbage all over your social media timeline(s). The habit that produces the “garbage” that I’m talking about are those terrible memes that attempt to compartmentalize various, complex social issues into a picture or two, coupled with a few vague sentences, or even worse, a ridiculous one-liner.

These are truly among the worst kind of memes on Facebook, not only because of how widespread they are, but because they can lead to the creation of opinions based on wildly inaccurate information. It is probably fair to say that most memes are created with the intent of them being seen by a large audience, where that becomes a problem is when these memes deal with issues that are a little bit more meaningful than a cute picture of kittens or puppies. When it comes to memes pertaining to serious realities that people face on a day-to-day basis, it is important that the topic being discussed in the meme is fairly and accurately represented. The thing about memes is that they are very easy to create and share; all you need is access to basic photo-editing software and a functional Internet connection.

Unfortunately, you are not required to have credibility, sources, or integrity to create a meme, which means that anyone with an agenda and some time on their hands can splice together some images and text, upload it online, and present it as truth. It is well within the ability of the people who create deceptive memes to find accurate, and maybe even educational information, but their intent was never to be accurate, it was simply to get you to buy what they’re selling. When it comes to memes about social issues, unfortunately there is not a page that pops up requiring a fact-check before the meme can be uploaded to social media. If you’re wondering why the emphasis on social issues specifically, here is the reason: People’s perceptions of social issues can and will have an influence on the decisions that they make, and one of those decisions is how they are going to treat other people.

When you’re deciding how you’re going to treat a person, it is important that the information informing your mentality is as truthful as possible. If you’re the kind of person that purposefully creates the kind of memes that mislead, know that there are those of us who are privy to it. If you’re the kind of person who sees these memes and your first inclination is to believe and share them (I know many people who do this, some of which may be reading this) consider instead changing your thought process so that rather than believing them right away, your first instinct is to research the information that is being presented in the meme to verify whether or not it is rooted in truth or deception.

The present era makes it incredibly simple for those who are fortunate enough to have an internet connection to look up information, which means that if you have Internet good enough to use Facebook or other social media to its maximum functionality, then you also have Internet good enough to conduct a Google search and a fact-check.

Believe it or not, the point of this article actually is not solely to be patronizing, it is to encourage that everyone do his or her best to be well informed. We are living in time where the world is being rocked by issues spanning numerous subjects that are critical to well-being of the global community, both present and future, and the least we all can do is make a genuine effort to know what we’re talking about before forming an opinion. I’m sure you’ve heard the common phrase “Ignorance is bliss” but it’s not, it’s dangerous. So do your part and I’ll do mine, and maybe the world will be a little less ignorant, and a little more safe.