By Dennis D. McDonald

This is an update of an article I wrote back in 2019. If anything, the situation has become even worse.

Given the increasing number of possibly fake images and videos on Linkedin (and on the web in general, not just on Linkedin), I continue to be surprised that people are resentful when I ask them to provide a link or other proof that what they are trying to convince me of is true or real.

A common response is a terse, "Just Google it!" Aside from the fact I rarely use Google as a search engine, I'm still surprised that someone trying to sell me on an idea (or a product) would make me jump through hoops to find evidence that what they are convincing me of is true. It's like getting a promotional email that wants me to buy something but neglects to provide sufficient information to find out more about the product and the means of obtaining it.

Granted, there are situations when the primary goal of posting something online will be to excite, inflame, promote resentment, raise funds, or reinforce existing prejudices, not to inform. That's what propaganda is for. I get that.

While I may agree with your political viewpoint, I am still I want enough real information to make up my own mind--and perhaps to pass along your message to my own friends, family, and colleagues. (Even so, research has shown that many folks don’t click on the links they forward; see Social media users probably won’t read beyond this headline, researchers say.)

I'm asking that people respect the time of the people they are trying to convince of something. If the intended audience members are really busy, they might just bypass your message and go on to something else--in which case you have, to coin a phrase, "Lost a sale."

Copyright (c) 2024 by Dennis D. McDonald. The image was generated by ChatGPT’s Image Generator in response to prompts requesting abstract images that illustrate the concepts of “skepticism” and “doubt.”