As I stood on the sidewalk off Creighton’s Main Street earlier this summer, waiting to snap photos of the triumphant high school graduates who would soon march by, I was drawn into a conversation.
“Did you know Manitoba is raising the drinking age to 21?” asked one woman, whom I casually knew.
I knew this wasn’t true. But I also knew exactly where the question came from.
On Facebook, a “news” posting had been circulating. Falsely (if not illegally) attributed to CNN, the post indeed reported that Manitobans would no longer be able to kick back with a cold one at the tender age of 18.
The post looked legitimate enough to the undiscriminating eye. But I knew that the supposed change made absolutely no sense and, furthermore, that a global news agency like CNN couldn’t give a hoot about Manitoba’s drinking age.
Sure enough, some Googling confirmed the post to be a sham. But how many people still think it was real news? And how many other fake stories are out there right now?
Such hoaxes remind us to examine everything with a critical eye.
Reporters often ask themselves, “Do I trust my sources?” In the case of Facebook and other social media, we should all do the same.
