This week, my Facebook newsfeed was inundated by people passing on a seemingly helpful notice about protecting the "intellectual" property we all post on the ubiquitous social media site.
It starts: "In response to the new Facebook guidelines, I hereby declare that my copyright is attached to all of my personal details, comments, posts, likes, endorsements, illustrations, fliers, events, writing, drawings, professional and non-professional photos and videos and any and all information etc. (as a result of the Berner Convention)."
It is followed by a bunch of legal-sounding mumbo jumbo that seems to lend legitimacy to the thing and many otherwise smart people were taken in by it.
Why do we get fooled by these hoaxes?
The simple answer is, it is in our nature. Humans are emotional beings and scams, hoaxes and cons play on two of our most basic emotions: greed and fear. In this particular case, it is difficult not to feel a pang of fear that the mighty corporation might be stealing our right to our own pithy ramblings.
It is also in our nature to be skeptical, though. Skepticism is fundamental to our survival. It's why we don't walk right up to large predators or eat things we haven't eaten before.
It is fascinating that when it comes to social media, a lot of that natural skepticism seems to go straight out the window. I have a theory about that too. The culture of Facebook is sharing. We are conditioned to mindlessly click and share without engaging our usual critical thinking skills.
It is equally fascinating why people create these hoaxes in the first place. It must feed some kind of visceral need in the perpetrator. Electronic vandalism, if you will.
Fortunately, it is easy to spot these things and verify their veracity.
Things to look for:
Poor grammar and spelling: Legitimate notices tend to be well-written and edited.
Official- or legal-sounding jargon: Facebook is no place to be posting official or legal notices.
An admonition to post on your timeline or share with your friends: Legitimate posts don't usually ask you to do this.
Anything long-winded: The hallmark of social media is brevity.
Phrases such as "this is not a hoax," or "this was on the news." Self-explanatory.
Personally, if a post is not a picture of a cute cat, a personal message from a friend, or a link from one of the reliable pages I subscribe to (i.e., Globe and Mail), I am immediately suspicious.
It only takes a few seconds to check. If I'm on Facebook, I'm on the Internet. A quick Google search almost always comes up with numerous hits that will verify or debunk the post in question.
Of course, people are embarrassed when they are taken in by a hoax. The most common defence I hear is: "better safe than sorry."
Not true, because if you keep "playing it safe," you're eventually going to be sorry. In this case, the post was a benign hoax. Somebody is sitting back laughing at all the fish they caught.
Others are scams, though, designed to steal personal information or having even more nefarious intent.
Don't get fooled again. Exercise caution on social media.
Science or nonsense
Can you really catch a cold by going out without a jacket?
We have all heard this old wive's tale, usually issued by a mom or grandma. Some people hypothesize that the supposed connection between colds and cold weather comes from an era when we still didn't understand the causes of disease. It's also very likely it's just something parents made up to protect their babies from being uncomfortable.
In any event, it's nonsense. Colds are caused by a virus, so unless you are exposed to the virus while outside without your jacket, you're no more likely to get a cold than your buddy who's wrapped up in his parka.
In fact, there is some evidence that exposure to cold might boost the immune system (up to a point) improving the body's ability to fight off the cold virus. Overexposure to cold (i.e., hypothermia), however, suppresses the immune system.
Speaking of nonsense related to colds, it is shocking what manufacturers of pseudo-medicine continue get away with. Cold FX is the biggest-selling cold remedy in Canada despite the fact there is no legitimate scientific evidence as to its efficacy. Nevertheless, the company's new commercials claim it is "clinically proven." These claims have been so thoroughly debunked over the past 10 years, it is unbelievable this company is still in business.
I won't go into all the evidence against it; you can look it up. Bottom line: save your money.
