Has anyone heard of this my son just told me about it

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Permalink Reply by Anti M on June 30, 2009 at 12:28pm

The flipside of "think before you reply" is of course, "think before you post".

I would respectfully ask everyone who is new to the internet to try practicing with google and snopes. Certainly experienced folks can answer questions, but I find that quite often I have to do a google search to provide the best possible information. I'm experienced enough to know that if I make a statement, I'd best be able to back it up. That's fine, I like to help if I can, but sometimes I would like to show the person how to be self-reliant. Just so if no one else has the answer, they could look it up themselves and possibly share with others in the future.

I think that not only does this site provide support, but also powerful learning opportunities.

I do agree with Ashseh, if you don't like a reply, ignore it. We're adults, if someone says something you find unpleasant, why simply move on. Lead by example, as it were. I get accused of being harsh, and why yes I am at times. One can be realistic and harsh and yet polite.

Thank you.

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Permalink Reply by Lady Hamilton on June 30, 2009 at 12:47pm

Here's another good website for getting to the truth of things. Specifically political things. If you hear a politician or pundit, left or right, spout off something that sound a bit fishy head to:

http://www.politifact.com/

Here's their take on the Obama Oath thing...........

Obama and the military oath

The other e-mail provides a case study in how a bogus story can spread with lightning speed.

Our tale begins on Jan. 28, when Matthew Avitabile, a 22-year-old grad student in upstate New York, decided to write a tongue-in-cheek blog item that said President Obama wanted soldiers to stop taking an oath to the Constitution and instead pledge their loyalty to the president himself.

Under the fake name Michele Chang — a name he dreamed up because he had just been talking to someone named Michele — Avitabile wrote a bogus news story that quoted a statement from White House spokesman Robert Gibbs saying, "The President feels that the military has been too indoctrinated by the old harbingers of hate: nationalism, racism, and classism. By removing an oath to the American society, the soldiers are less likely to commit atrocities like those at Abu Ghraib."

Avitabile labeled it satire in a note beneath the story, but in the superheated world of political blogs, where passions often run faster than reason, that wasn't enough.

The label got left off and his bogus story was quickly copied and pasted on blogs, zapped around the country through chain e-mails, and discussed in YouTube commentaries. Many people didn't bother to verify it and responded with comments of outrage.

"Who does this megalomaniac think he is?" someone commented on the Web site Digg.

"Good g*d---Obama is an egomaniac like we've never seen before. Another Hitler on the rise. This guy is just trashing everything the Consitution stands for," wrote someone named Kitty on the blog Tree of Liberty.

Someone identified as bill122460 posted a commentary about it on YouTube titled "OBAMA S HITLER OATH THIS IS MESSED UP ."

"He don't belong in office," bill122460 said in the five-minute commentary. "End of story."

He added that it was "a Hitler oath. I told you! Welcome to the United States of Nazi Germany!"

It's clear that bill122460 and many other people didn't know it was satire. Some of the blog postings referred to Michele Chang as if she were a well-known (and real) writer. "Michele Chang: bama wants to have soldiers and officers pledge a loyalty oath directly to bama, not the Constitution," said one.


Some blogs were eventually corrected, or people posted comments that said the article was a fake, but others still carry the fake article. Brent Johnson, a radio host who posted the item on his Voice of Freedom blog, said he posted it without verifying it because "This is one of those stories where, if it is true, is so, so serious. It’s the kind of thing people need to know about in the chance it is true."

But now that Johnson has heard it is a satire, he said he will revise or remove the item.

Avitabile, a Republican who had previously poked fun at Obama with a tongue-in-cheek article that said scientists had determined that he was "genetically superior," is thankful for all the traffic it generated for his blog Jumping in Pools. In the past he was lucky to get 1,000 hits on a story, but this one got more than 50,000. Yet he's disappointed that so many people published his work without verifying it.

"Out of the 50,000 who looked at it, only three had the good sense to contact me and see if it was true," he told us (PolitiFact was one of the three).

Avitabile described himself as a moderate Republican — "I'm pro-gay rights, pro-wind energy" — but said he was surprised that so many in his party had such negative feelings about Obama.

"People wanted to believe this about the president so bad, that he would really go toward a dictatorship so much that they would go with it without checking it," he said.

Indeed, we all know that passions run high in politics, but it's remarkable to us that so many people would pass along something that is so obviously ridiculous without verifying it. But we should have expected this. During the campaign, we found people were passing along e-mails claiming that Obama wanted to adopt the Coke theme song as the National Anthem .

So now, as we did for that one, we've got to set the meter ablaze. And this claim is not just Pants on Fire wrong. It's a reminder that if you get something shocking in your inbox, you should check it out before you pass it along.

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Permalink Reply by Achseh on June 30, 2009 at 3:54pm

Ooo, thanks for that website!

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Permalink Reply by Lady Hamilton on July 1, 2009 at 2:53am

The point being made is that to ask a 'simple question' about a myth on a public forum of 20,000+ can not but help perpetuate the myth. There will be readers of this topic who will not get passed the first entry and carry away the belief that POTUS is changing the oath. Even if only 1% of the forum carries away the myth that's a potential of 200 misinformed people. If each one of them posts the myth to another forum or sends it off in a large email list, the myth rapidly goes viral. Myths/rumors/urban legends/untruths/baldface lies can spread across the internet with unbelievable speed.

A simple question can become a stupid question when asked in the wrong context. Standing up in a crowded theater and yelling "IS THE THEATER ON FIRE?" will start a panic just as sure as shouting "FIRE!!". In the case of suspected internet myths the place to ask questions is not on an open forum, but with a impersonal search engine like Snopes or Google. Less chance of starting a panic. Or ending up with egg on your face. Be your own myth buster.

Emma

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Permalink Reply by Judy buds mom on July 1, 2009 at 3:51pm

Wow, I am seasoned and can find my own information. I do not however find it necessary to belittle and scorn someone who does not, If you are annoyed with the question, why not just refrain from answering it.
I like the snope website but I will not forget that this site can not be the tell all for everything. Least we not forget that history books have been full of lies and misinformation but people quoted them as the truth for years

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Permalink Reply by Lady Hamilton on July 1, 2009 at 4:09pm

Why not just refrain from answering it?
A preference for truth over ignorance, I guess.

"There is nothing so powerful as truth, and often nothing so strange." - Daniel Webster


Emma

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Permalink Reply by Debby on July 1, 2009 at 7:31pm

You know not everyone is as well versed in the internet... I'm fortunate that I happen to deal with the internet in my current line of business.. I train tech support and worked in tech support for a major communications company for many years.... and would consider myself very knowledgeable... but others are not so lets try and be a bit kinder instead of insulting... oy vey

Second I got 4 emails from people I thought were pretty bright on this very subject just yesterday.. so it can happen to anyone to see this and fall for it.. navywoman16 I applaud you for asking about it instead of sending out mass emails to all your friends :)...

Debby

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Permalink Reply by Lady Hamilton on July 2, 2009 at 9:23am

Nani,
Political discussion? I thought this thread was about debunking internet rumors and putting the breaks on the spread of misinformation.
I'm amazed that it has gone on so long without taking on a political spin. Nice work, Moms.
Emma

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Permalink Reply by Anti M on July 2, 2009 at 10:40am

Everyone could choose to Just Stop. Hardest thing to do online is let it go. The OP seems to have moved on.

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Permalink Reply by Suzan on August 27, 2009 at 8:33am

How about that old saying "If you have nothing nice to say then say nothing at all?" I am a fairly newbie Navy Mom on this site too. Lots of times I have been worried and have had questions but have NOT posted them because of answers like some of the previous ones - thus, I've had to worry alone. Sad. No, in life everything does NOT have to be sugar coated, but if someone comes to you for help, why not try to be helpful and not hurtful? We are NOT Military we are civilians and last time I checked, this was supposed to be a support site - not a judgmental one! Sooz

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Permalink Reply by Anti M on August 27, 2009 at 9:06am

Is it helpful to dredge this back up just to say be nice? Personally, I think not.

When you get a less than helpful or polite response, you may choose to ignore it. That's about the most proactive thing one can do in an internet flail-ex. (flail-ex = military exercise in futility). You should ask your questions anyway, if you don't like the tone of the answer, keep on to the next one.

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Permalink Reply by Suzan on August 28, 2009 at 11:06pm

Again, this is America and I was simply voicing my opinion. I choose to ask questions to those Navy Moms I know well whom I know will give me the support I need during trying times. But it is always in good taste to be nice, and as a teacher, I always give that advice to my students, adult and otherwise. Other than that, this site is a pretty good one, and I enjoy it. BUT...I AM outspoken and WILL voice my opinion as I see fit. Thanks.

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