Facebook Hoaxes & How You Can Avoid Them

Social media dominates a good portion of many people's daily lives.  Checking up on friend's activities online is something most Americans do few times a day.  The ever evolving world of social media now lets us share photos and statuses to spread an idea at lightning speed.  Occasionally you will be asked to share something in efforts to help raise awareness or improve the well being of individuals and groups.  How can you be sure the idea you are passing to your friends and family isn't a total lie?

Facebook is the leading social network site in the world.  Almost everybody and their grandmother has a Facebook profile.  Hoaxes in all shapes and forms have been around since longer than anyone can remember.  The internet, especially social media sites, are the perfect anonymous breeding ground for such fabrications.  Hoax-slayer.com and facecrooks.com are helpful sites that debunk hoaxes and give helpful info to avoid scams. If ever unsure whether or not to post or share something, these sites are a good place to find out if the story has any ground to stand on or if it is just a rumor.

Here are some recent Facebook hoaxes that have been debunked.

Not all scams and hoaxes are after your money, although many are.  Some just spread unfounded rumors that can cause unnecessary panic and confusion.   Nonetheless some of these hoaxes will entice you to share a photo and friend the sources page just as an attempt to gain access to some of your personal info.  Some are absolutely harmless and just spread rubbish for the sake of spreading rubbish.  These will waste nothing more than your time and give you a false sense of helping out.  Once again, there is no harm in these but many would rather not participate in spreading rumors.  Keep an eye out for scams and rumors, and think twice before sharing.  You never know if you are helping a cause or helping an effect.