Google displays a search result in 0.44 seconds.
Assuming it takes 10 seconds to type your
search query, and a maximum of 10 seconds for
a web page to open, I can say with a certain
amount of certainty that it takes only 20.44
seconds for knowing about something with
google. So what amazes me is why so many
people are reluctant to use this. The reason I
am talking about this is that on facebook and
Watsapp you see people sharing all kinds of
fake messages. People don't bother to verify
anything. To cite an example, the other day on
facebook I saw a friend of mine sharing a post
about a recently started law dealing with the
Indian penal Code. I got suspicious as soon as i
saw the post. It sounded ridiculous. I did a
Google search and it turned out exactly as I
thought it would. A fake. There was no such law
and the IPC number it cited dealt with a
completely different area. So a simple search
would have revealed about the authenticity of
the message saving misinformation to spread.
Now there are a lot of reasons for such kind of
messages to be actually made. False
propaganda is one for a start. You can simply
create a false message citing an
achievement/feat/deed/accomplishment of a
person/organization/country/government etc.
and spread it on a social media platform. It
spreads unchecked as a lot of people don’t take
the time to verify the message. They accept the
truth at its face value. This unchecked and rapid
growth creates whatever effect the OP(Original
Poster) wanted to create in the people. By the
time sensible people who actually check these
kind of things start declaring it as fake these
messages will have spread far and wide fulfilling
the purpose for what they were created.
Now if these messages are harmless not much
damage is done. But communal messages
instigating one particular community against
another by putting up a lot of fabricated lies
creates huge problems for law and order.
So the next time somebody forwards you a
message be sure to verify it before you forward
it to someone.
