A post with a thousand likes can still be wrong. Popular isn’t a fact check.

Agreement spreads faster than accuracy, because sharing something costs nothing and checking it costs time. A large number under a claim tells you how many people liked the way it felt, which measures appeal rather than truth. The most shared version of a story is often the one that was shaped to be shareable.

Before you pass something on, spend a minute looking for who said it first and whether anybody with something to lose has confirmed it. If you cannot find that in a minute, leave it alone.