I love Facebook, as do millions of other people. I use it for so much – to connect with old and new friends, to plan events, to see what my friends are up to, to brag how gorgeous my kids are and how healthy my dinner is (I’m exaggerating a bit) and to share causes I think are important. What drives me nuts is when my friends share things that are just so obviously not true. Well, they are obvious to me and clearly not obvious to them and even when I inform said friends that what they are posting is bull crap, sometimes their answer is “just in case”. There’s no just in case, you are posting untruths. People don’t have a lot of time these days to check the validity of what they are sharing and just clicking that share button is all too easy. So, I’m going to make it simple for you and if you have friends who do this too, share this with them so they know and hopefully we can rid our Facebook feeds of the junk that doesn’t need to clutter it. If you are ever in doubt of the validity of something you see on the internet, Snopes is a great place to check!
Get a free $200 Costco (or Amazon, Macy’s, Best Buy) card
I was actually in a state of utter dumbfoundness over this one. So many of my friends posted this scam to their Facebook wall, even taking the time to input the words “Thanks Costco”. Apparently, if you like and share this one, Costco will reward you with a free $200 gift card. Did any of you get it? Nope and you aren’t going to either! Do you know how much money Costco would have had to put out if this promotion was actually true? This alone should have told you that this could not be true.
Share this and you’ll get money
Often you will see photos of a bag of cash, a table full of cash or something of the like. The caption will read “Share this money and you’ll be rewarded with cash in five (or so) days!”. I’m going to assume that my friends are sharing these just on the off hope that maybe destiny will be in their favour and not because they actually believe this will come true. Sharing things on Facebook will never bring your riches. Hard work and inheritances do that.
Missing child
If you’ve got a missing child or someone else is missing in your life, of course you’ll want social media to light up with their disappearance. With the reach of the internet these days there is no doubt that people can be found by fluke that someone saw their face on social media and realized they were said missing person. My problem is with the ones that aren’t. Some idiots thought it would be cool, funny or whatever to post a photo of a random child (probably from someone’s Facebook account) and put in a poorly worded plea that you’ll have no heart if you don’t share along with a bunch of emoticons. A quick search of the internet of the child’s name (if there isn’t one included that might tell you this is a scam right off) will tell if this child is truly missing and in fact if they are still missing. As I said above, people seem to just want to press a button and years after a child has been found, people are still sharing to their Facebook feed that the child is missing. Get your facts straight before you share about something as serious as this so we can leave room for the real missing children out there.
Share this and Facebook (or some other large company) will donate money
With grotesque and heartbreaking photos usually attached, people share this one because they do want to help. Little do they know that no company out there is going to donate money based on Facebook shares for someone’s surgery, adoption or to get them to the Caribbean. There’s no just in case in these cases – I’ve not heard of one person getting their medical fees paid for because of shares on Facebook. Prove me wrong if you can.
Hackers are posting sexual videos
You may have seen a Facebook urgent warning letting you know that hackers are posting sexual videos and pictures to your wall and your friend’s walls in your name. The warning says you should share this to your wall so your friends know it wasn’t your dirty little mind that shared it, but some anonymous internet hacker. Using bright red and yellow and too many exclamation marks, you share that one immediately because you don’t want your friends to find out you really are the pervert they thought you were.
Win a Disney cruise
I’ve had to tell a few friends about this one because I know it is all of dream to be bombarded by thousands of children on a large boat with singing characters. We all want to go on a Disney cruise and we don’t really want to pay for it. So, hey, just share this photo and you could win a Disney cruise! Except that you won’t, because the page is not real. I don’t know how it hasn’t been shut down and how it still has that many likes, but there is a Disney Cruise Lines page on Facebook that says you’ll win a cruise if you like and share. Take a look at their name and how it ends in a period. Now, take a look at the real Disney Cruise Lines and how it has a checkmark beside its name meaning it is a verified page. Always look for that verified symbol before liking a page that could not be who it says it is. That includes celebrity pages.
Medical advice
Having a close family member with cancer, I’ve heard so much advice from well-meaning friends on how to cure it. Because they saw it on the internet and even Facebook, it sounds true. I don’t know anyone who has been cured of cancer from methods other than what doctors recommend. I’m not saying it can’t happen, but before people share medical information on their Facebook page and on the page of their sick friends, they should do some research into the claims.
Faked videos
I had a friend recently post a very blurry video of a roller coaster going around a loop and then straight off the tracks into oblivion, where the video then ends. Her caption was “And this is why I’ll never go on a roller coaster”. At first at seeing the video you feel shocked. Until you google and find out it is a doctored video and it never happened. But, on the bright side it has probably shortened some of the lines at the amusement park for me and my kids so I can’t complain about this one. Keep sharing! Many of the videos on the internet have been faked or changed and you can’t just assume because you saw it with your own eyes that it must be true.
Lottery winners
The latest hilarious share I’ve seen on Facebook is a guy (or different guys) who are holding up a lottery ticket and telling you that they won $100 million or some huge amount and they don’t need it all. So why don’t you go ahead and share this photo and you’ll get a chance to win the rest. Seriously, who wins all that money and wants to give it away on Facebook? No one! As I said above, money doesn’t come from sharing stuff on Facebook. If it did, I’d be rich by now!
Bargainmoosers, what are some of the worst lies you’ve seen spread on Facebook?
Photo credit: MKH Marketing
9 Lies You are Sharing on Facebook is a post from: BargainMoose Canada
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