Don’t be like me… be skeptical and verify
These days there is content coming at us from every direction and it’s really hard to determine if it’s factual, a paid source or just someone trying to stir up drama. That’s how I feel when it comes to news and social media these days and if I feel that way, as someone who’s made a career working with sources, I can’t imagine how other people feel.
Gone are the days of opening up Facebook (yes, I still use Facebook, I’m old!) and Instagram and only seeing posts from your actual friends or pages you’ve liked show up. Now, more than half of my feeds are ads or pages that the algorithms think I will want to see.
And sometimes I do, but most of the time I find myself wondering, “is that really true”, or “does that product really work?” The number of things I have bought from “regular people” telling me how great a product is on Instagram is embarrassing. Newsflash — they almost NEVER work.
For your entertainment, here are a few things I have been duped into buying:
1) Sinus Relief: A red light device that goes up my nose to relieve sinus pressure. Not only does it NOT work, it’s quite painful to wear.
2) Calming Bracelet: A magnetized bangle bracelet to help with anxiety and stress. Not only does it do nothing, it’s hardly adjustable, so it barely even hits the right pressure points.
3) Migraine relief roll-on stick: I’m now seeing a pattern in my purchases — they get me when I’m struggling with my headaches and stress! But shocker — this one didn’t do anything either.
The point is, it’s hard to know what to believe anymore on the internet. So, I have made myself a guide to help weed out the scams and false advertising. This same concept works for PR and news stories, so I thought I’d share some best practices so we can all be a little more informed and hopefully waste less money than I do:
Verify the source – When it comes to news, click through to the main website and look at the other stories. Do they all slant the same way? If so, it’s likely not an outlet you want to trust for your information.
The same goes for all these products I’ve been buying. Go to the company website and read about their background/company. If there isn’t much information there or any other products for example, it’s probably not the best place to spend your dollars.
Look for corroboration – Is this source the only person talking about this story? Is the story/footage current or is it something reused and taken out of context? If you can’t find the information elsewhere, it’s probably not true/real.
When it comes to purchases, I have learned that just because I’m seeing multiple “influencers” talking about a product, doesn’t mean it’s the best. It means social media saw you watch the first video and is showing you more like that. (I don’t want to tell you how long it took me to realize this.)
Check the Location: Make sure you pay attention to where a story occurred. Oftentimes stories from across the country related to heated topics are reshared causing confusion thousands of miles away for people.
For me, making sure I figure out where a company is located and manufacturing is key. For one of my purchases, I found out after the fact that the product was “designed in Arizona” but was shipped to me directly from China…. an unhappy surprise at Christmastime.
So, learn from my mistakes and remember the tongue-in-cheek saying “if it’s on the internet, it has to be true.” It’s tongue-in-cheek for a reason and it’s important to take a minute and verify what you are seeing and reading.
If not, you’ll accidentally believe false information, or in my case I’m collecting useless products. This is my public service announcement to you all, but if anyone sees my husband, please don’t tell him I bought all this junk.