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i think one of the best things my folklore major did for me was to teach me the signatures of urban legends and the environments in which they flourish. it& #39;s a great skill to have in general, but especially right now
panic is a major source of fuel for misinformation and urban legends, unsurprisingly so. people want to protect themselves and their loved ones. and right now, a lot of the fear is reasonable, and useful information is scarce. so people fill in the gaps as a way to make sense
but this also means a lot of unverified info gets circulated, often through social media and text messages/emails. and it all seems reasonable, because the status quo is so interrupted and so little is known for certain. but spotting misinformation is important
over the past week or so i& #39;ve seen posts going around about a nationally imposed lockdown enforced by the national guard (with some variation on the specifics)
often, the posts (or texts) cite a friend-of-a-friend (foaf) who works at homeland security or in the govt
often, the posts (or texts) cite a friend-of-a-friend (foaf) who works at homeland security or in the govt
the people the information supposedly come from are typically a few degrees removed but know someone you know. but the foaf source is a pretty classic hallmark of an urban legend or misinformation. it feels personal but it can& #39;t be verified
and the same structure tends to get repeated. soon, everyone and their mother has a friend in homeland (or in the ER where richard gere went back in the 90s, if you know you know)
we& #39;re all trying to help each other out here and protect the people we care about. there& #39;s no shame in accidentally spreading misinformation, it happens to all of us. we& #39;re all scared right now, so it& #39;s more important than ever to make sure when know what& #39;s actually true
if you read something, especially on social media, check the source. try to verify through multiple sources. if someone tells you something personally, do a quick google search and see if you can find an official source for it
stay informed, but stay skeptical
stay informed, but stay skeptical
