To Share or Not to Share

Imagine you’re scrolling through Facebook. You see a post that seems interesting, maybe even shocking. You think about how your friends would find it interesting too. You go to click that share button …

Stop right there! Sharing social media posts that are not trustworthy can cause confusion and information chaos.  How do you know if a post is trustworthy?

Think about what kinds of things you frequently share with friends or followers. Think about the things you *don’t* share too. Do you share happy things? Things that make you angry? Do you fact-check the posts you share? Do you share things you disagree with?

This exhibit station has six sample social media posts. Look at each post and decide whether or not it’s factual and therefore good to share. When you’ve made your decision, swipe your hand over the answer panel to see the correct answer. If you get stuck, read through the tips on the exhibit about how to make good decisions. Pause the audio track now to give it a try and press play when you’re ready to continue.

How’d you do? Did any of these examples surprise you?

It can be good to have a personal set of ‘sharing standards’ that help you to quickly decide whether to share an image or message with others. Which of these tips would you add to your standards?

There are even more strategies than we covered here to help you fact-check a post or image before you share. Let’s go to the next station! Select the corresponding track when you arrive.