Memes are a huge part of the internet and as a fan of video games and anime, my exposure to memes extends to jokes and references only. In fact, I was a little surprised that a meme about the lottery was made. I have seen many memes and these have desensitized me to being gullible and to not take memes seriously. After all, would you believe something like this?
I have learned to not take memes seriously and that their popularity should be based on their humor or creativity. In fact, I feel that my exposure to the Internet along with common sense makes easy to determine legit information to false ones. I have fallen victim to false information before many times as a kid. Thankfully, they weren't big problems; all being related to video games. Basically, as a kid, I did not know which video game walkthrough and/or secrets websites were legit........... Many hours were wasted.....
There is also the factor of school and how we are taught to do research. In this day and age, it is truly concerning that we as a society are so gullible. I think the problem is our laziness to actually understand the information and learn. There is the false sense of security that the internet is safe and perfect when it is one of the most untrustworthy places to go to or at least, a majority of it is.
Here is a quick list of things we can do to be more cautious around the Internet:
- Check what kind of website the information is from
- Check whether the source/author is legit
- Check multiple websites and confirm similarities and contradictions
- Check the entire article and/or piece
- Check mentioned sources
- Check for biases
- Understand the difference between opinion and fact
- Almost never accept downloads unless it's from an official website
- Don't take non-articles as fact until confirmed by you or a trusted source
- USE COMMON SENSE!!!!!!!
(memegenerator.net)
Now that you and I know how to keep ourselves relatively safe on the internet, how can we help others? Tell people!
Now that you and I know how to keep ourselves relatively safe on the internet, how can we help others? Tell people!
(www.quickmeme.com)
Make conversation and spread the word. OH! Here's an idea; use memes. We could make a meme to spread awareness of how the internet is not always right. Fight memes with memes!
(chillz88 forums.oneplus.net)
Ahem! Back on topic. So what do you guys think? Is the internet a source of information you live by, or is it just a time waster. What experience do you have with false information, and what are some tips you can share to help keep us all safe? Thank you for listening and I hope you enjoyed.
P.S. Here are some interesting videos you can watch about the social and practical dangers of technology. It may be a little off topic and a bit extreme, but the ideas are connected in my opinion.
