Social media can be a great tool, but it can also be a Devil in disguise. I'm not a big social media person because I don't know if what I'm reading is factual or some of that 'fake news' President Trump keeps talking about.
Social media went wild Saturday in the aftermath of the shooting at the old Escambia County Middle School building where one person was killed and eight others shot.
I read posts about it being a graduation party for seniors at Escambia County High School; I read posts about how the high school and the school board should be held accountable. I had people sending me posts that were placed on anonymous blogs that were totally untrue.
You as taxpayers have spent millions and will continue to spend millions to determine if Russia influenced the 2016 presidential election that put Trump in the White House. I've yet to see any evidence that the Russians tampered with voting machines. Did they post things on social media that gullible Americans took as the Gospel? Probably so. If you make your decisions based on what you see on Facebook and other social media posts, you are an idiot.
I've talked about this before, but when I got diagnosed with prostate cancer I went to the Internet to do some research. It was an eye-opening experience. Trying to figure out what was fact or fiction was a difficult task. All options sounded good but I quickly realized most were nothing more than an infomercial from people pushing their product or procedure.
“You're so gullible McFly” stands out in my mind a lot from the movie 'Back to the Future'. People are very gullible when they take what they read on blogs or other social media pages as facts.
I love the commercial Allstate Insurance runs on the radio when they talk about if it is true an Allstate man will show up immediately in the event of an accident. 'It has to be true, I saw it on the Internet” is the response.
I'm not a big Facebook person and have never posted anything on Facebook. I have responded to friends who celebrate birthdays or other events.
As I was trying to figure out what actually happened early last Saturday morning in Atmore I quickly learned that what I was reading on social media wasn't true.
When I talked with Escambia County High School Principal Dennis Fuqua, he echoed the same concern that a lot of wrong information was being published and republished on the Internet. He was quick to tell me it was not a graduation party for ECHS students. Fuqua was concerned for multiple reasons, but those concerns were that he did have members of the 2019 graduating class at the party and someone was dead and eight others were injured.
It's easy to run your mouth on social media when you don't have to stand by your words. That's why I don't allow anonymous letters to the editor and I don't allow anonymous posts on my website.
If you've got something to say and want to put it in the Tri-City Ledger, sign your name. I put my name by everything I write so you know who to contact if you have a problem.
It reminded me of an old Andy Griffith show where Barney cut his finger and by time it made it through the gossip circle in Mayberry he was dead.
The fact is someone was killed. Eight others were shot. Others may have been injured trying to get out of a building that had only one door in and one door out. Questions need to be asked and answered about how something like this could happen at a so-called non-profit Atmore Family Life Center at the old middle school in Atmore.
I'm still trying to find the agreement between Lillie Johnson and the Escambia County School Board that allowed her to operate the center. Attempts to contact Johnson were unsuccessful.
She charged a 2019 graduate $400 to rent the facility and he charged $10 a person to come and told me he sold about 700 tickets.
Did the agreement allow Johnson to pocket money for renting the facility out for social events like the birthday party that happened Friday night? I'm not sure, but I will find out and I will not get my information from the Internet.
Why were all the other doors chained closed so when the shooting started students had to dive through windows to get out?
There are a lot of questions that need to be asked, but depending on social media for the right answers is the wrong way to go.
