Cherry Picking

When I write a blog, I try hard not to cherry-pick my statistics or my sources. I try to present both sides, or what I find to be the most prevailing attitude or opinion on a subject, and then express my opinion about that (whether I agree or disagree). You can argue how successful I am at doing that.

Facebook (FB) is an incredibly useful tool for getting in touch with people I used to know and finding connections that have been broken. I'm back in touch with a number of my extended family members as well as high school chums that I lost contact with over the years. Some of my good friends who went off to live their lives I have gotten back in contact with and have found out what has been going on.

However, one of the worst parts of Facebook is that people can post just about anything... and they do. The worst thing is that people post "factoids" from people, companies, and activists without vetting the information first. I see a ton of repostings that are simply bad information, outright lies, or misinformation. Most of these posts are fairly harmless, when someone posts that setting a certain setting in FB will help them be more anonymous online (no, it usually won't), or by posting something they might win a prize (in most cases, no), or one of the many urban myths (like Coke causes worms in meat if poured over it). These are mostly harmless and fairly easily to ignore.

However, some people repost information that is simply wrong. A friend recently reposted something that indicated that the Dairy industry is duping the world because most people (the origin information suggested 75%) in the world are lactose intolerant. The group posting it is anti-big business, pro-little guy, and often uses over-inflated data. I thought that number looked high so I did a quick search and found that the world-wide number is actually closer to 33%. The only groups that are in the range of 75% are blacks and middle-eastern people. I don't blame the friend for reposting this-- it is a way to get people to look at their choices and re-evaluate what they purchase, but I do blame the originators of the post for using scare tactics and categorically incorrect information to get their point across.

I see similar things posted concerning government, businesses, and high-profile individuals, as well. During the election, people posted many of the completely proven false lies about President Obama in an attempt to influence people's voting (like his citizenship). I see celebrities being bashed and abused similarly, by having certain comments or pictures cherry-picked and used against them.

A new trend is to take pictures that people have made public and use them in posts. Recently, a woman had one of her daughter's pictures copied. The copiers then added a sob story about how the girl, whom they had renamed at least, had a disease and didn't think she was beautiful. They wanted people to 'Like' the picture so the girl could see how many people thought she was beautiful. However, it turns out that it was a grab for Likes so that those who started it could sell the FB names of everyone who liked it to a company. So, not only did they steal a child's photo and use it for nefarious ends, everyone who Liked it is now on a company's list and getting spammed. Similarly you get people posting the "Name a state with no 'a' in it..." or the "Only a small percentage of people can read this..." type of posts that are also Like grabs by people who just want to create lists and sell them to companies (or worse).

People don't think for themselves any more. If they did, they would see that so many of these posts are simply lies and they probably wouldn't repost them. For awhile, I took it upon myself to link to the real information and to disprove these statements so that the posts would die (at least among those I know and am connected to via FB). But I'm tired of (seemingly) being the only one who is doing any thinking or questioning of these posts. I'm not doing it any more.

I'm tired of the spread of misinformation, I'm tired of the constant push and pull of high-technology, and I'm tired of Facebook. If you want me, email me. Or call. Or write a letter.