Facts from Fiction: The tale of social media mirage

We have often heard statements such as, “Use your common sense, and you will be able to do the task” or “This is a matter of common sense,” but, in recent years, with the advent of social media, we often find ourselves face to face with situations where we wonder whether the other person is applying his common sense or not.

Common sense is applying your judgment in different situations. However, humans in recent years have forgone practicality in favor of their need to be correct. In this era, where social media is the king, and there is an avalanche of information available, there are higher chances of distortion of facts and manipulation of news. We all know that media houses and individuals twist the word according to their advantage and present it to influence the common public. We are also aware of the algorithm of social media, wherein news that is paid for will be transmitted at a higher rate than other essential facts. Yet, we are quick to abandon our common sense and believe in the most atrocious and outrageous news.

As a well-informed citizen, it shall be our duty to verify the facts of any information and then make an informed decision or opinion on a particular situation. However, we already follow a set of preconceived notions and forgo the use of practicality and rationality to support our views based on false facts and news. Verifying or gathering information from a trusted source is a matter of common sense, yet common sense is rare these days. Fact checking is a fairly quick task, you can check your facts here https://newsinitiative.withgoogle.com/resources/trainings/verification/google-fact-check-tools/

The need of the hour is to apply our common sense to wade the waters of ample information and form a decision based on facts. The incident in Manipur, wherein two tribes have been warring with each other, originated because fake news was circulated, and one of the two tribes believed it to be accurate and waged a war. This incident could have been saved only if we, as individuals, used our common sense to distinguish fake news from the real. To achieve this, we need to make a habit of verifying any information we read or see. Specific fact-verifying sites are available, and it is time to use them for a better and more practical world.