avatarNanie Hurley 🌿

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Social Media Isn’t My Primary Source of Information

Although I have learned a lot from social platforms

It’s undeniable that social media is a great source of ideas, and to some extent information and knowledge as well. But it’s not straightforward to tell the credibility of a social media profile. Are they an expert or merely claiming to be an expert? | © Image credit: Nanie Hurley 🌿 with CanvaCC-BY.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m a Millennial, so I spend my fair share of my time on social media. Neither will I deny having learnt a lot from it. YouTube, for instance, taught me a lot about writing, and if I can crochet today, it’s exclusively due to video classes I watched on repeat.

However, I don’t use YouTube or other social media as a source of knowledge and information, especially to dispute my own or someone else’s beliefs. Anyone can go on YouTube and claim to be an expert. Creating an expert badge on Canva won’t take ten minutes. In fact, you can even create a website to showcase all your fake laurels using Canva too — and it doesn’t even cost anything.

Of course, I know there are credible experts on YouTube. But it’s not always easy to tell who they are. It takes a lot of research and fact-checking. Fake news isn’t something invented by Trump, and it isn’t exclusive to politics. The internet isn’t real — not everyone is a liar, but anyone could be lying.

Finding out if an expert is actually an expert or simply someone with a great online presence and outstanding marketing skills isn’t easy, and it’s definitely not quick. It can take hours, especially if we’re talking about someone you have never come across before in a field you’re not entirely familiar with.

That’s why I have significant reservations about YouTube, Instagram or any other social media, as well as personal blogs or random websites as sources. I’m not saying they’re wrong, but I don’t have the time to go through that content and ensure the profile is a reliable and credible source of information.

I told this commenter I don’t trust YouTube experts at face value. I know about the internet’s great ability: information at a fingertip. But I also know about its great shortfall: anyone can say anything and publish it online. Verifying a source’s credibility takes a lot of time. | Screenshot of a comment left for the author.

So when someone disagrees with me and sends me social media links to prove their points, I will likely decline to engage with such content. I don’t have the time to verify the credentials of the people behind the information shared. It’s not that I don’t know Google exists. Of course I do! But I’m also very aware of how easy it is to claim you’re an expert and put it out there — especially if you have a comfortable marketing budget.

So, please, don’t send me those kinds of links. I’m not saying the information is wrong or you’re purposefully trying to trick me or feed me misinformation. Not at all. But, I must ensure the information I get is trustworthy; that burden is on me. That means I must question whether your experts are qualified and your sources reliable. I don’t have such time to spare.

That’s different for studies published in scientific papers, and articles and reports from governmental, reputable NGOs’ and international organisations’ websites. These are reliable sources with self-evident credibility. I don’t need to check if the UN is the UN, and I trust them to publish reputable information on their website. That doesn’t make everything they write accurate, complete or “the Truth”, but it does remove the burden of fact-checking from my shoulders. For this reason, I’ll read sources from these websites.

Ultimately, my time is my own, though. I don’t owe you to read your sources of information. If I do so, it’s because I’m willing to learn more and broaden my views on any subject. When, and if, I have the time to spare.

Social Media
Information
Fact Checking
Science
Facts
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