How to find out if a shared post is HOAX?

Sharing HOAX messages/emails/social networking posts might be more dangerous for the world than you think. So not only should you not share them, but it is also your duty to actively try to stop them by necessarily asking the hoax sharers to remove it, and to contact their source to do the same (and so on). To be able to do that though, the first step is to find out if a given post is a hoax or not. While a Google search for only 30 something seconds can tell you that, most of us don't bother to do that - especially when it's coming from someone we trust. The problem is, someone you trust might have been fooled by someone as well. So what are some strong signs that a shared post might be a hoax?

• It lacks any specific information at all -  Made up stories generally deliberately avoid details as otherwise more people would have either already known, or will be able to check their validity quite easily. "It was shown on TV" is much easier to spread than "It was shown on Discovery Channel yesterday at 4:00 PM" (though even that could easily be a hoax). For example, the "World's largest tortoise" reportedly found in Amazon sea had no source whatsoever. 

The World's largest Tortoise - is actually a scene from a movie

• Or, it shows very accurate value of something - when by common sense it can't really be measured with that accuracy! For example, the eggs on windshield hoax said eggs thrown on the your windshield can reduce your visibility by 92.5%. First question you should ask yourself is 'What?' It didn't mention anything about the number of eggs, the kind of eggs, the shape of the windshield, the angle and spacing between the 'egg shots', frequency of eggs thrown, the speed and direction of the car, coefficient of adhesion or surface friction between eggs and the windshield, but still calculates the "loss of visibility" pretty accurately to a globally correct value of 92.5%. Here, you catch it, it HAS TO BE a hoax. 

When eggs are thrown on your windshield, DO spray water and start the wipers

• It relies too much on your emotional vulnerability - be alert if it asks you to be kind, have heart and share something, especially by showing some gruesome pity evoking picture of some people, kids, babies, exploiting your kindness, patriotism or religiousness. And most of the times, these pictures are stolen and spread without any consent from their parents. Would you like it if it happens with your daughter? So check the authenticity of the same, before giving in to them. Remember, your emotional vulnerability is the biggest tool hoax creators have. 

Don't these kids, most of whom are NOT suffering from cancer deserve their privacy?

• Here's an example of how your patriotism is exploited. Do you really think out of all world problems related to Education, Science and Culture UNESCO will try to decide which nation's National Anthem is the 'best'? And how do you even define 'best' in this case? There is just no way one best anthem can be objectively found out, and there you know even without searching that it has to be a hoax.

UNESCO has really got better things to do than deciding which nation's anthem is the best:)

• It shows paranormal, unusual living forms - it is absolutely possible that you would see actual photos of some genuinely but unusual living forms like animals, insects and plants which you never even imagined would exist. However, a lot of times they're plain lies created by image editing software like photoshop. Just like the giant tortoise reportedly found in Amazon sea shown above (which was actually a movie scene), or like this mermaid, or this three headed snake hoax. Validating that again takes just 30 seconds. 

Isn't she really beautiful? :)

There was a version containing seven heads of the same snake :) (Click to Enlarge)

• It asks you to share or your email/ facebook/ bank etc. accounts will close - it's ALWAYS false. Do NOT share it.

• It talks about spread of HIV and other dreaded diseases: No, your Pepsi, Frooti or other beverages aren't mixed with HIV contaminated blood by any worker. And yes, neither your theater seats nor your gas stations(petrol pumps) are fixed with HIV infected needles. For your knowledge, HIV virus can't even survive outside your body for long. 

• It claims money will be donated on each Like/ Share - for cancer, or any other public cause. No, Microsoft/Google/Facebook/Yahoo or any other company will never do such a stupid thing. For all the time to come in future, these posts will be false. Don't share without checking (In all my life I have seen just one such case when someone was actually donating $2 per 'Like' for a very limited time, and that was an organization's Facebook page to get more visibility. But that was a special case, and the chances of that happening are around 1 in 10,000 :) ). 

• It asks you to share to get God's blessings in 5 minutes - such posts are of course, always hoaxes. Don't share them. The are generally accompanied with a threat of having to bear god's wrath if you don't share it. STILL don't share it. Check after 5 minutes, you are still alive, and healthy.  

Surprised by people believing this, I tried my hands on Photoshop. :) (Click to Enlarge)

• It's a facebook post telling you to write a comment on a photo - to "see the result/magic" after you do that, is again always false. Nothing like that will happen - there is no connection between comments you write and the photo you upload. Facebook doesn't even allow animated pictures. This is again done to get into maximum number of people's News feeds - riding on the wave of your gullibility. Do not become  a victim by helping them in their cheap way of getting publicity!
  
  

  

  The only thing that 'happens' when you do it is, you make a fool of yourself

  
   
• Anything which looks too good to be true - Dial 1098 (in India) and a truck from an NGO will come to collect your leftover (cooked) food items and distribute amongst poor children. This is one of the hoaxes which has harassed that particular Childline help NGO with so many useless calls that even after more than a decade they still have to display a message on their home page debunking this hoax, but the hoax just doesn't end, along with the problems of that NGO. It not only jammed their telephone lines, but also made it difficult for actually distressed children to contact the organization and receive help in time. So with the seemingly kind share,  rather than helping the "poor hungry children" with your leftover food, you might actually be pushing a distressed kid towards suicide, just because he/she couldn't connect to the helpline in time. Do you still think hoaxes are worth sharing? 

IPC Section 233 is actually about Counterfeiting of Coins :)

Remember, ALWAYS CROSS CHECK THE SOURCE OF INFORMATION BEFORE SHARING ANYTHING!

Spread knowledge, not hoaxes. Good luck! :)