Fake news gone wrong.

“Every fresh start to the week is another opportunity to learn new things and apply what we already learned.”

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I also spread fake news some days ago which was embarrassing to me in the end. Sincerely, I have never been involved in spreading fake news until it is verified because I detest being insulted, so I stay in my lane.

I have heard much fake news from bloggers and many people online and I wonder why on earth would they spread such hypertensive news online. But one of their aims is to generate traffic to their blogs or perhaps most of them are being paid to spread it. Who knows? But that shouldn't make you not verify something before sharing it because this is a digital world and everything seems to go viral within a twinkle of an eye.

It happened that we were waiting for our final year results to be out so we all would get ready for our clearance. On a Sunday after service, a lady came to meet me to ask if I have seen my results or graduating list since she has seen hers. She was happy her name was on the graduating list and I congratulated her and hope mine too will be best.

I got home to post on my status that the English department had seen their list while Education hasn't without confirming first, but only relied on firsthand information. A few minutes later, my course representative sent a DM asking where I got such information from. I boldly told her a friend from church had seen hers. After some minutes, she sent me a message telling me to always confirm first before posting such.

Reading that, I was embarrassed and had to delete it immediately before many people would view it. That was my first time doing that and would be my last.

My Uncle wasn't smart enough to fake his kidnap as that was his way to extort money from the family. This guy caused it himself when he was supposed to be serious with his life but wasn't focused. He is over thirty now and I can't point out something achievable in his life. He is always finding different means to collect money from the family and would come up with lies to cover himself up. Thank God for the wise and smart Aunts I have.

One of my Aunts even partnered with him on a business so he could have something worth doing but he deceived her and ran away for years. After many years, he showed his face and he was sad seeing me and my siblings doing fine today, whereas he has nothing. In his mind, he would be like “these are the children I took care of while they were little, now, they are fairing well today”.

One thing about him is that he is so lazy but wants to eat. He is living a fake life and deceiving everyone. This day, my aunt in Ibadan got a call from someone that my uncle had been kidnapped and they are asking for a ransom.

I was in school when the news spread to my hometown. My younger brother called me that night and explain to me. The next thing was for me to start cracking up with laughter because I know my uncle was lying. My aunt that was called quickly believed the lies, but everyone including my grandma did not believe a thing about it.

When one of my aunts who is a lecturer at the University of Benin heard it, she quickly said she has no money at all, so no one should bother her, not even someone like my uncle.

That was how everyone took the news to be a fake one while we keep waiting for another breaking news 😂😂😂

After some days, someone told us he saw this uncle working on the farm. Even his girlfriend confirmed he has been at home and nothing was wrong. Perhaps my uncle didn't plan his kidnapping well, by sharing his plans with his girlfriend but we already know what was going on. 😅

Ever since then, my uncle didn't call or show up because of the disgrace he put himself into. I told my siblings that this guy wasn't smart enough because we were smarter than him and besides, he lost his trust in us for a long time ever since we knew his lies, deceit, fake life etc.

At least before you share any news online, it should be 100% verified so you don't cause someone his or her death especially when such a person is hypertensive.

That was how I got another fake news that one of the famous Nollywood actors named Osita Iheme was dead. I was in my room already crying because the news was being shared as a real one. I had to post on my status as a question asking if it was real or not. When I got many replies that it was fake, I stopped crying and wished it was never real.

Spreading fake news could cause many things to others and also could be risky for the posters. So, let all information be verified first before bringing them to others.

Thanks for your time.

Image by Polina from Pexels

[October 10, 2022] (No 282 articles for the year)