Oh Internet ....

I have a huge pet peeve.  Well, OK let's be honest - depending on the day and my mood I sometimes have a LOT of huge pet peeves.  But today, one in particular is chaffing my ass!

I have been online for quite a while.  I have seen all the emails.  I will admit that I even fell for a few of them once in awhile.  I feared that my tooth paste and my shampoo might be giving me cancer because an email SAID SO!  I may have forwarded an email about a poor dying girl's last wish to receive hundreds of Christmas cards form around the world.  I know that when I was first online I DID fall for a few of these things.  But that was over 15 years ago now.  I believe that my forwarding this stuff was from pure, beautiful ignorance.

However like anything in life, the more time I spent online, the more I learned.  I learned that all that I read on the Internet is not gospel truth.  I learned that I could find web pages that would support any thought I had, and just as many that would dispute it.  I then quickly learned that any crackpot or freak could create a web page.  This taught me to research, to check sources, and to pay attention.  Now granted I will admit that I am a bit of a cynic at heart, and therefore (much to my parents dismay I am sure) it is my nature to question everything.  I would also be willing to bet that one of my friends that had been online for longer than I, more than likely pointed me towards the sites that are created to debunk Internet bullshit.  But learn I did!

Now after 15+ years online I get frustrated when I receive emails that are nothing more than pretty lies or, even worse, out-right fear-mongering.  I will give people the benefit of the doubt, and I will send them a polite email explaining that what they have decided to forward is untrue.  I will include a link to a reputable site, after all I don't want them to have to take my word for it.  I will then suggest that in the future they might want to take the few minutes to check these things out for themselves.  After all, the world is a better place for all when it contains less fear and fewer lies.  Chances are pretty good that it will happen again from the same person, and I will go through the same polite process.  By the third or fourth time that it happens, I usually send them a polite email asking that they take me off of their forward list, and explain why.  If that doesn't work, I have become fond of the block feature - though truth be told I think I have only blocked 2 people for this reason, and much to my dismay one of them keeps sneaking past the block feature! 

Then came Facebook.  Instant information.  Information shared instantly to however many people you have on your friends list.  BAM!  It is just that quick.  Facebook has also brought many people who have never been overly active online to the Internet.  How many of us, who are already middle aged, also have parents with Facebook pages?  It is a crazy, beautiful, wonderful thing.  And it is making me insane!

In a matter of minutes I can open my Facebook page and see the same crap from 1/3 of my friends list!  It doesn't matter if that information makes sense or is true.  Someone said it, so it must be good, it MUST be true!  Why would anyone EVER take the 30 seconds to think before they post??

Then on top of the ever growing pile of crap and lies, fear-mongering and ridiculousness, we have people determined to change the world by updating their status.  While I applaud the desire to bring about change, really people?  Changing my status to bring about change is about as effective as sleeping with a gym membership under my pillow in order to bring about weight loss!  Then to have people imply that I 'don't care' because I choose not to engage in a meaningless action really annoys the hell out of me!  Then some wise ass, somewhere, decides it would be a hoot to take a meaningless post, and attach a meaning to it that will induce fear in the masses!  Yep, that is right.  That cartoon picture you changed in order to 'support the stop of child abuse' is actually an invitation to pedophiles.  QUICK!  Tell all your friends NOW!  Don't stop to think.  Do NOT take time to check it out!  Don't research it!  Tell your friends NOW!  This will definitely help the cause you so passionately believe in.

Folks here are two wonderful sites:
http://www.snopes.com/
http://www.thatsnonsense.com/

Bookmark them.  No, seriously - go and bookmark them NOW!  I can wait....

Got it? 

Now, in the future when you read something that makes you think 'OH MY!  Who would do that??'  or 'Wow!  That is soooo unbelievable!' take the 30-90 seconds it takes to verify that the information you are about to spread is in fact TRUE.  If it is earth shattering news and it can not be verified by reputable web sources, chances are it is not true!

If you want to bring about change in this world, spending 30 seconds updating your status is probably not the way to start.  Chances are if you are sitting in front of your computer, on Facebook, life is generally pretty good for you.  I am not saying that we are all flush with money, and dancing under sunshine and rainbows - seriously, I live in a double wide trailer, I do not roll on a bed of money when I am bored.  But if you have time to waste on Facebook, chances are you are living somewhere in the mostly happy middle.  So why not save all of those 30 second updates that wont do much to make change, and once or twice a year donate that time to truly help.  http://www.volunteer.ca/ has a directory of volunteer organizations, and I know from experience that all of these organizations are ALWAYS looking for help!  Maybe you are like a lot of people, struggling to balance family, work, sports, social life, house cleaning, and so on and so on.  Maybe you don't have the time to donate.  Why not go without that afternoon Tim's or Starbucks for a week, and then take that money and give it to a cause that you so believe in.  Maybe it will only be $10.  But at the end of the day that is $10 more that an organization will have, and all those 'little' donations sure do add up!

One last thought, and then I will let this rant go for now.  Lately I have seen many people with an update that Cancer patients only have one wish, to get better.  As someone that is slowly watching her mother lose her battle to Cancer, I can not explain how angry that statement makes me, and I can only imagine what it does to my Mum.  Yes, my mother is terminal. Yes, there is nothing that she would like more than to wake up tomorrow and know that she is going to win, and Cancer will lose.  But to imply that that is her only wish is really quite rude and ignorant.  My Mum has many wishes!  She has many dreams and just as many hopes.  To imply that she has only one is to reduce the meaning of her life to nothing but the Cancer.  How would you like your life defined by the illness that will eventually kill you?

C'mon people, we are all adults. Don't you think it is about time we think before we post?