We were so sad to hear about the death of martial-arts master Jackie Chan via Facebook.
And we’re still crying over the huge loss of Bill Nye the Science Guy, which we also saw on our newsfeed.
Just to clarify, we’re not sad because these celebrities are dead. Both are alive and well. Nope, what has us shedding tears is how poorly sourced most social media content is. It doesn’t have to be April Fool’s Day for rumors and misinformation to spread like wildfire online.
Now, celebrity death hoaxes are nothing new. After all, it was Mark Twain who famously said, “The reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated.” But those words ring even truer today, as we see celebrity deaths and other fake “news” spread quickly on Facebook and Twitter.
That’s why it’s even more important to know where your news is coming from. It’s something we take very seriously here at Social5, and it’s something we really take pride in. Every article we link to and every number we quote has been vetted by a writer who specializes in that specific area, and it’s double checked by an editor, usually a former journalist. We know that if our customers look foolish, so do we — and we don’t let that happen.
So next time you see a celebrity death, a “news” article from an unknown website or a promotion that just seems too good to be true, don’t get fooled. Hold off on sharing until you can verify that the information is accurate. Or just sign up for our service and rest assured knowing you are getting high-quality content that has been vetted by professionals. Because in the digital age, the MOST foolish thing you can do is to have no social strategy at all!
