Social Media is both a boon and a bane. While it has helped spread the word faster thereby helping take precautions, it has also spread a lot of misinformation.
One of the best things you can do about this information before processing it is to check the credibility of the source. E.g. World Health Organization is issuing regular and periodic updates and advisories. It couldn’t get better than to get the inputs from them. They’re present on various social media.
Here are direct links to WHO on social media (hyperlinked):
World Health Organisation on Facebook
World Health Organisation on Twitter
World Health Organisation on Instagram
World Health Organisation on LinkedIn
The Public Health department of your country is also likely to issue suitable advisories. Look out for those.
If you are in/ from India, the following might be helpful:
Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India on Twitter
Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India on Facebook
And lastly, if you have received a forwarded message where the source is not identifiable, please cross check the validity. E.g. I saw a forwarded message on WhatsApp that spoke about UNICEF saying that the disease spread via mosquito bites. UNICEF is a children’s education fund. So I saw it as a red flag and when I explored I found that it was a hoax message. Adding such sources is often the content creator’s (could be hackers’) way of making the message more credible.
There are various industries that profit from such panic. So do be very mindful of the source of information. And please, encourage people to fact check before forwarding. Better still, don’t forward. Everyone is already exposed to enough. Don’t be conducive to panic behaviour. Stay safe.
Have a socially profitable day.
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