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“Doomscrolling Is Slowly Eroding Your Mental Health”

“Doomscrolling Is Slowly Eroding Your Mental Health”

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In the midst of an ineptly managed pandemic and ineptly managed civil unrest and economic fiasco people try to make sense of it by reading everything they can. Scrolling through post and news story after news story is called “doomscrolling” and it destroys your mental health. Sadly, much of the bull shit is not from random social media posts but from actual experts who spew nonsense.

Revisiting an old topic: “How White Supremacists incited panic and fear using social media propaganda at the University of Missouri – Social Panic”

Revisiting an old topic: “How White Supremacists incited panic and fear using social media propaganda at the University of Missouri – Social Panic”

Back in 2016, fake social media posts from fake social media accounts were used to incite fear and hysteria, with attempts to start riots. I documented this in detail back in 2016.

Today we again have fake social media posts being used to incite violence, looting, arson and anarchy – none of which leads to productive solutions to bona fide injustices and societal problems. Social media is playing a central role in this non-productive destruction of our society – and is not providing a platform for problem resolution.

“Fact-checking viral photos, claims”

“Fact-checking viral photos, claims”

As with past events, you cannot trust what you see on social media, when people wishing to make points or instigate further violence begin spreading photos that are from other events occurring months or years earlier. Always, always, always be skeptical of what you see on social media. Always think through whether each point is verified or verifiable – question what you are looking out, even if you want to believe it to be true.

Impact of fake social media: “False Claim of Forced Removals Under Contact Tracing Bill”

Impact of fake social media: “False Claim of Forced Removals Under Contact Tracing Bill”

A fake social media propaganda meme has circulated saying a House Bill will require the mandatory separation of family members if one tests positive for Covid-19. The meme is fake but many people believed what they read or heard. Yesterday I witnessed this first hand as a middle aged woman broke down and cried, fearing the government would separate her from her elderly mother, for whom she is the primary care giver. This is the awful impact of garbage posts on social media.

Journalism: Does a coronavirus test cost $3,270? No, it does not.

Journalism: Does a coronavirus test cost $3,270? No, it does not.

A new report with a poorly written headline has been interpreted as the cost of a Covid19 (coronavirus) test is $3,270. In fact, the CDC is not charging for their diagnostic tests. However, this meme has taken off on social media – that a test costs $3,270 – and this claim, in turn, is used for propaganda messaging on a variety of political and health topics.

Privacy: Clearview AI has scraped 3 billion face photos from the Internet, mostly from social media

Privacy: Clearview AI has scraped 3 billion face photos from the Internet, mostly from social media

The photos of all of us have been amassed to create a massive database. A photo of our face can be submitted and it will identify the person (claimed 99% accuracy) and return information about each of us and all photos of us they have found online, even back to when we were kids. They scraped all of our photos from – social media posts. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and more – possibly even personal web sites. If your photo is on social media, you are in their database. There is no way to request removal, even if the photo is of a child whose information is protected by the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act.