Another PSA about Facebook

Its the beginning of another election so I thought it would be good time to send out another reminder to never use Facebook as a source of information, even if the source looks trustworthy. Most of my smart friends already know all of this, but because of the ubiquity of the technologies a majority of us now use every day, it can be easy to get complacent. Facebook, like Google and Twitter, relies on selling precisely-targeted ads to make money, making you the product, and they are under no obligation to ensure these ads, which are often disguised as posts, are factual.

So please, for your own sake and for society's, if you must use Facebook, use it for sharing pictures and events with your friends and family only, and stick to reputable news platforms for staying current with the news and politics. BBC News, CBC News, the Toronto Star and the Canadaland podcast, in my opinion of course, are all much better sources of information as they are not owned by large corporations who must answer to shareholders and they thus have less of an incentive to filter information in a particular direction.

All sources of information are biased in ways but some are worse than others, so mindfulness and critical thinking are key to avoiding being misinformed and successfully lied to. The truth can often be at odds with our beliefs but its OK for us to be challenged as it makes us smarter, adaptable and more well-rounded people. For political discussion, try to keep it in person, as online hive minds are extremely detrimental and is one of the biggest sources of the divisions we are seeing in society today. If you care about democracy and the future of humanity please pass this message along and as always, I'm open for discussion of this topic and pretty much anything else under the sun (sharing and comments options are below).