Fantasy Versus Reality

In a time of social media, there is an influx of information posted online. Sometimes, these sites are the only place people get news. A majority of the time, they are unreliable. The other day my mother came downstairs to tell me that she got an email that Pat Sajak had died because we are avid Wheel of Fortune watchers. However, I knew that was not the case because I read an interview that said that Pat was planning on returning to The Wheel of Fortune in late January, early February. A lot of people read things once and take them as the truth, but the truth is, most of the time, it isn't. I have a firm belief that you should fact check everything you read on social media networking sites with reliable sources like the newspaper, news websites, and interviews with the people involved. One person who believes in a false piece of knowledge can lead to them telling others, and that will lead to a long chain of misinformation; this is how cults and religions start. 
People believe in a lot of different stories. That’s what they are, stories, to know that there are people out there who read stories that are fiction and believe things in them are true, is flabbergasting. In class this past Friday, we were talking about how my teacher could ask some of his students what they thought about the Trump hearings or the Epstein happenings, and they would spout out completely false information that they heard from Snapchat stories or on Twitter. Also, there are a bunch of other people that are ignorant of the world and have no idea what’s going on or who the vice president is. Between believing false information and being ignorant, I don’t know what is better. Maybe being ignorant because at least then, you aren’t spreading around untruths. With social media, however, it is hard to be ignorant when scrolling down your feed there are at least two posts about WWIII or what’s happening with Iran, as well as the holocaust against Muslims in China. You have to pick and choose what you believe, though. That’s what is hard, sorting out what is real and what is fake because sometimes there is a fine line between them.
Ever since we talked about it in class and when my mom told me the wrong information about Pat Sajak, I have made it a goal to fact check all of the information I see online. I don’t want to believe in the fake news. I also want to be less ignorant, in the past years, I haven’t cared what has been going on in politics, but now I realize that it is the future of my country at stake and I should know how things are run, and who is running them. There are a lot of things on the internet, it is our duty to find out the difference between fantasy versus reality.
I'll keep you updated.
- Michelle

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