This last weekend, I was scrolling though my social media and stumbled across an article about Disney. If anyone knows me, they know I am a Disney freak, so I like to stay up with new things at the parks and with the cruises. This particular article spoke of how in the last month or so, Disney was having to put out a lot of fires to shut down rumors of things that were simply not happening at the parks.
I bring this up because this same issue is running around the publishing industry, although I have to say, it is predominant everywhere. People are simply "reposting" and "retweeting" things they heard without taking the time to truly investigate the information. We get that for most of you, your intent is honest and true. You are just trying to let your colleagues and writing partners stay up with the things you are hearing. I get it! The publishing world changes really fast and if you want to be at the forefront of a new trend, you have to get the information early.
But do that research first!
I have a friend from high school on social media who frequently posts something that she "just saw" about a celebrity death or something like that. 9 times out of 10, someone on her feed responds that the news actually happened several years ago. While this might be a "woops, my bad moment" it is no different than so many others who don't take the time to verify before forwarding.
Part of the reason the 2016 election was so full of controversy stemmed from just this same behavior. It doesn't take much to get a rumor to spread. Put out something "BIG" or something "STARTLING" and that rumor will spread.
So, before you start replying and reposting and retweeting, please try a couple other words that begins with "RE" … Review, Read, and Research.
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