First in a series on

“Responsible Social Media Citizenship”

For solid research on what you accept as truth, you need to learn:

• who it is that is telling you something,

• why they are telling it to you,

• and what do those who disagree have to say.

This is the basics—the minimum—on learning to be accurately informed.

Real truth is nothing to be afraid of.

Why this series? Why now?

While watching a YouTube video that made some good points about comparing the viewpoints and biases of various news articles and resources, it was so obvious to me that even though the video narrator thought they were coming at it from an unbiased direction and that they were just simply presenting facts, they were not. The fact of the matter is that no one presents information in an entirely bias-free manner. Of course trying to do so is better than trying to manipulate with misinformation, disinformation, or non-information (see “Why is ID important?”). Lying, scamming, tricking, and intentionally misleading people to prevent them from learning accurate information is abhorrent, no matter how common we find it around us. Being aware of the difference between these bad and manipulative communication methods is going to be a starting point when it comes to keeping those who curate and share information on a path of well-supported research.

However, the responsibility rests on the person reading the website, app, blog, news article, or YouTube video to sieve through the information glut and test what is presented to you. To be a responsible social media citizen, you must take care in hearing and reading to test whether the communication deserves your precious trust in believing it—and especially—whether to pass it on to others.

And how will I know?

The answer to that question is what the series is about. As stated above, the bare minimum for being a responsible research-citizen has to do with how you approach some bit of information. Ask yourself those questions: “Who is telling me this?” “Why are they telling me?” and very importantly, “What do the people who disagree think?” If you can’t ascertain the answers to these questions, then you have no business sharing them with others. Even if you are a person who already wants to agree with some bit of information you are hearing or reading, you still need to understand all three of these things to be an effective and honest researcher.

It is all a part of loving the truth—which is why so many people say they want to share some informational tidbit they have read or heard: they want the truth to get out about something. However, if you don’t actually do the preparation to know and validate the truth of something before you believe it and share it with others, how much of a lover of truth are you? Not much; more than likely, you are a lover of what you already think, whether it is substantiated by accurate information or not.

People who think they are committed to getting the truth out hate to be thought of as liars, which is often what they call people who disagree with them. However, truth be told, when people pass on things that are not true, that is lying and it is liars who do it.