{"id":848,"date":"2014-07-09T05:59:56","date_gmt":"2014-07-09T12:59:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/coyotecommunications.com\/coyoteblog\/?p=848"},"modified":"2020-08-31T13:29:56","modified_gmt":"2020-08-31T20:29:56","slug":"truth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/coyotecommunications.com\/coyoteblog\/2014\/07\/truth\/","title":{"rendered":"You have an obligation to be truthful online"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Because of the Internet and text messaging, it has never been easier to share information – or misinformation.<\/p>\n

Also because of the Internet and text messaging, we\u2019ve all become mass communicators. This isn\u2019t the same as passing around a Christmas letter to the family, sending cards to friends or showing a video of the company picnic at a gathering of co-workers. Posting a blog is publishing<\/em>. Posting a Facebook status update is publishing<\/em>. Posting a video on YouTube is broadcasting<\/em>. Yes, it is. You may have set your privacy settings so that only your friends can see what you have published or broadcast, but they have the ability to cut and paste your ideas into their own publications or broadcasts.<\/p>\n

And because of all of the aforementioned, you have an obligation in all of your publishing and broadcasting to be truthful – that includes what you forward. I\u2019m not talking about jokes or satire. I\u2019m talking about \u201cHere\u2019s an article from The New York Times<\/em>\u201d you are sharing because you saw it on someone else\u2019s page – did you make sure it really is from The New York Times<\/em>? Did you take 15 seconds or less to cut one sentence from the article and paste it into Google<\/a> or Bing<\/a> and to see what comes up – a NYT link or a Snopes<\/a> article debunking the story? (I timed it – it really does take just 15 seconds or less).<\/p>\n

You don\u2019t have to be a journalist to have ethics. And you still get to post all sorts of opinions and thoughts and dreams and hopes and fears and jokes and pretty pictures wherever you like, however you like, to whomever you like. But take just 15 seconds or less before you post that amazing story about a boy with cancer or a heroic dog or some outrageous action or comment by someone you don\u2019t like, to make sure it\u2019s true.<\/p>\n

What are the consequences of NOT being a responsible citizen of cyberspace? These:<\/p>\n