Be careful what you share on social media

IT is amazing how some people love sharing a person’s personal opinion or understanding on many different issues including the Coronavirus (Covid-19) on social media platforms.
Do they really understand what they share?
We are all desperate for information.
Information can be a life-saver when it is reliable and factual.
On the other hand, incorrect information doesn’t help anyone and can make things worse.
Just as a virus, wrong information can spread, causing what’s called an infodemic.
Today, we are seeing the spread of two forms of wrong information: misinformation and disinformation.
Misinformation is “false information that is spread, regardless of intent to mislead”.
The spreading of misinformation happens often in our everyday lives.
We are not perfect.
We make mistakes, we forget things and we mishear or disremember details.
We tell our friends something we heard on TV or saw on social media that wasn’t really true.
If you are spreading information that is wrong without knowing, then you are technically spreading misinformation.
Sadly, misinformation spreads very easily, thanks to technology.
Disinformation is false information deliberately and often openly spread (as by the planting of rumours) in order to influence public opinion or obscure the truth.

Parasite