As my tagline states: the misinformed who informs is the going thing these days. Not only are we constantly taking in new information, we are taking in a lot of false information. I myself am guilty of listening to the social media news anchors. Yesterday I was on edge thinking that they were taking TikTok away. It’s all over the news ace every social media platform. As I scrolled TikTok all of the creators were “informing” me on what was to come. Lots of follow me on this platform or subscribe to my YouTube just in case this gets banned… All of that good stuff. I believed them but then asked myself, “why Paris?!” They are not even giving credible information or they are just as knowledgeable as I am when it comes to this topic. Were they in the court room? No! Are they part of either defense team? No! Yet for some reason it is so easy to believe the hype. I soon noticed that it is always a question of, do I believe the hype or do I do actual research to avoid being misinformed? Somehow I always end up doing both… Silly me! Panic first and then dive into research… Or what I would call balance!
That lead me to frantically searching the internet. I need credible information. I am so sick of being misinformed. At least what I would consider being misinformed. I scroll a few platforms and end up on ABC and then CNN. I come across this video TikTok CEO confronted by lawmakers on tackling misinformation on the app . Now this, live footage from the court room is something I can believe. It’s raw and can not be edited. But it is becoming so much easier to fall victim to what we see in social media. The social media context interferes with truth discernment states how it is hard to determine what is accurate these days. So much can be edited through sharing and small changes.
Ever since I was a kid I was always intrigued by BREAKING NEWS. It was fresh in, usually from a credible source, and just always so interesting. Up until today, I’ll never forget how fast breaking news travels. When I think of breaking news, it can be any news or information important to not only myself but those around me.
When it comes to information, I have always felt like the most important aspect of it is relatability and emotional attachment it has on a person. I could hear a story about something truly sad, but if I cannot relate, or it does not hold a soft spot in my heart, or does not pertain to me and my life, as a whole, I will not turn an eye to it.
My mother has always banned quite gullible when it comes to news, and my father is on the verge of being a conspiracy theorist. 
Which creates my sisters, and I who are sort of in between the two.out of the three of us, I am the one who reads the most, and spreads the most information, and my two sisters are usually out of the loop unless it is something that directly pertains to them. I see myself as being motivated by knowing the most, and that can be things that are relevant to myself or just interesting topics. Typically.
Typically I’ve never found it hard to determine what is real and what is fake. But it was more so a question of do I want to allow myself to believe this or what side I found myself on. For example, today my mother sent this link to our group chat Target introduces ‘automatic’ surcharge – customers will be hit next time they shop. I loved target, so of course I clicked on the link, just to find out that it was an attention, grabbing hairline, and that they were giving information that was already known or using scare tactics to get clicks. The title misinformed me and made me think that there was some new policy going into place. But if I didn’t click on Target introduces ‘automatic’ surcharge – customers will be hit next time they shop I would’ve never knew the actual truth.
In my community it has always been easy to believe the information others close to you give you. Like how could you really question the information someone close to you is giving you. They know what you’re into and we all tend to have the same beliefs and foundation. The moment we find something out, we’re quick to tell everyone via text, social media or a phone call. Especially if it pertains to our lifestyle financially or health wise.
Being informed is just the basis of life but just as fast as we can inform others, we can also misinform each other as well, which is just as bad. But is that as bad as not knowing? Because even if we are misinformed and give that to others, we are able to fix it just as fast. But it is a lifestyle and a form of being social within my community .
