I am sick to death of people shooting their mouths off or sharing articles on social media this election without checking their facts and sources. People seem to think they have a right to say what they like, but when you ask them to back up what they say with facts, they can’t. They often don’t even reply or even apologise when taken to task. It’s not right to say things you can’t support. Often they could be sued for libel by some of the statements they make. Now I appreciate that’s probably unlikely to happen, but it doesn’t make it right to commit the offence does it?
To me it’s simple. Only comment if you have something valid to say. If you do say something, be prepared to back it up. Do your research before you shout your mouth up in public. Don’t show yourself up as ignorant, ill-educated or just plain careless. Check what you say before you say it. Make sure if you share a newspaper article that it’s from a reputable source. Even then you can get caught out if you don’t check out sources (a well meaning friend got caught out the other day by an article that had been discredited, but was still showing on a supposedly reputable site without an apology/correction). It’s really simpler not to share if you aren’t confident. If you are not sure either don’t say it, or make if clear in your statement you aren’t sure. It’s not difficult, it’s just being a responsible adult and a responsible voter. I just hope they are putting more thought and research into their vote than their social media comments, but time is running out for that before election day.
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