5 Things to Keep In Mind before Sharing an Article on Social Media

Many of us tend to share a lot of articles on social media- to share news, to raise awareness, to freak people out- and the list of reasons is endless. But how many of us really read the article before sharing it? How many of you are currently feeling guilty reading this? Yes. It is time for us to be conscious of what we are sharing and what message we are preaching. Here are five ways to make sure that happens. 

1. READ: Duh. This had to be the first pointer. If I can't stress on this enough, I will bring it up again. But please, read what you are sharing before you share it. There are many times the headlines are a lot catchier than the inside content itself. I remember reading an article title that led me to believe that a famous Bangladeshi actor was in the 1/7 attacks. When I read it, turns out he was stuck in traffic DUE to the attacks. See what I mean? 

2. Look up the Website: When you read an article, or even a title, that seems too radical or too crazy to be true, Google can come of great help. If you just type down the website name and search, Google will instantly let you know if the site is satirical, reliable or not. Many people forget that satire is a thing, and tend to not only believe it, but also react to it hysterically. 

3. Photoshopped Images: Many articles use photos to grab your attention. With blood, gore, or even a two heads on a man, they seduce you to share their stories. This is where a very handy website called fotoforensics.com comes in handy. Scan the photo in that website, and it will instantly show you what has been added through image manipulation. 

4. Website Policy: There are news websites like Forbes, who have opened a third-party blog for their readers. Reuters too has a section dedicated to unedited, unscreened press releases. These articles mostly go without verification and fact-checking, and are written by contributors or bloggers. So before you go about believing every published article in these websites, get some fact-checking done for yourself. 

5. Likes for Life: When you like something or share something, I hate to break this to you, NO MONEY WILL BE DONATED IN YOUR NAME. This has never happened, and probably never will. If you are concerned about the baby or dying person in the picture, search for more information on the internet before you share. The search will lead to you thanking yourself for not sharing.

So there you have it, keep these tips in mind, and you will most likely seem less silly than you did before on social media. Oh, did I mention reading the article before sharing?