Category: News, observances, history

Use These 9 Strategies for Responsible Sharing on Social Media

I believe it is vital that we verify information before sharing on social media. I offer 9 strategies for responsible posting, urging users to think critically about the content they share.

updated February 3, 2026

Browsing on  Facebook, I found and enjoyed watching  an inspirational animated video that “won an Academy Award for best animated film.” I don’t know the person who shared it (a public post), but I was curious and decided to research before sharing.

What I found was a blog post by Chuck Sigars (who I also don’t know) detailing how he researched it and found no evidence to verify this claim. I couldn’t either. So I didn’t share the video.

graphical depiction of electronic devices, paper, pencil, Bible, coffee mug
man looking at a phone screen

Fact vs. Fiction on Social Media

Now I don’t think the person who shared the video was lying, I think she truly believed it won an Oscar. It was visually appealing and had a heartwarming message about kindness. And many people have shared it, all with the claim “won an Academy Award.” But did it really?

I didn’t share the video because I don’t want to perpetuate what to me and others has become a serious problem on social media-creating, promoting, and/or sharing false information.

The paradox of living in this era is that as easy as it is to spread fiction, it’s almost as easy to disprove it.

Chuck Sigars

The other “pandemic”

“Fake news” has been an issue with social media use, but in 2020 it seems to have become another sort of pandemic with inaccurate, misleading, and false posts about coronavirus, lockdowns, public health, the presidential election, riots, protests, racism, etc. Due to the popularity and widespread use of social media sites and personal blogs we have all become “influencers”, like it or not.

Influencer- one who exerts influence: a person who inspires or guides the actions of others

merriam-webster.com

The professional media is often criticized for biased reporting, but we social users are not without fault. We should act as responsibly as we expect them to.

I don’t mean we shouldn’t share opinions or feelings about valid information. Nor am I suggesting we should stifle creative thinking or alternate conclusions drawn from established facts. And by no means am I promoting censorship of unpopular ideas or trampling our Constitutional right to free speech. (Amendment 1).

I am talking about responsible use of media, especially social media. (I am mainly addressing Facebook use because I use it the most. But I think these principles apply to the other sites.)

Separating valid news reports from opinion, satire, advertising, press releases, and advocacy promotion is hard when friends are sharing them as facts or even “the truth”.

9 Strategies to Use Now

I suggest 9 strategies to help us post responsibly and productively. I created these from my own thoughts, observations of posts both good and bad, and from ideas on other blogs and websites.

I’m using genuine examples from posts that I have seen but altered them enough to preserve others’ privacy. I don’t want to shame or embarrass anyone, but I do want to raise awareness so we can all make social media more honest and valuable. I need to observe these as much as anyone, and I hope you and my social media friends and followers will hold me accountable too.

1. Post with Purpose

Have a purpose when you share. Is it to inform, entertain, amuse, educate, challenge, ventilate, express opinion? If you don’t know, the reader may not know either. The content should match the purpose.

hands keyboarding

2. Express Yourself

Your friends are more interested in what you think than what “a friend of a friend” thinks. Express yourself in your own words, give examples, tell a story, rather than “copied and pasted” or “stole this from a friend”.

I found a handy image meme thing that uses fancy words, giving it the appearance that it uses science to defend my opinion position on a topic… I’m going to post it and use it as my argument to be my voice

a friend’s satirical post

3. Consider the Source

Choose your sources wisely when sharing. Blogger Shannon Coleman (ofthe hearth.com) writes

You may love and trust your friends and family members, but it is time to ask some tough questions in regards to what they share.

 If you don’t know the author ,check them out; go to their profile and see how they present themselves. Is this someone you want to be identified with?

4. Confirm the Facts-who, when, where

Facts -names, dates, places- can and should be verified. Check it out. If you can’t find it somewhere else on the internet by a reliable source, you should question the accuracy.

Copied & pasted, also not sure how accurate the numbers are, haven’t had time to research and the news started coverage but still good food for thought:

a friend’s post for real

5. Tell us What and Why

Why are you sharing this post? Cartoons or cat videos probably don’t need explanation, but narratives do. Tell us why this piece is share-worthy.  Did you learn something from it? Do you find it inspiring or motivating? Did it anger you? If I read it, what benefit can I expect?

Maintain a healthy dose of skepticism. Don’t believe everything you see, read, or hear, even when it corroborates what you already believe. As a child, I was taught to “play Devil’s advocate” and look at the opposite side of my own argument. I think that ability can serve well in these times.

a wise friend

6. Share Videos with Value

Respect your friends’ valuable time. Inviting them to devote precious minutes to a video that “you have to watch before it’s taken down” is a good way to lose friends if it doesn’t measure up.  

Many videos have a caption that introduces the content. If it doesn’t then you should  compose a succinct paragraph so they’ll know what they’re missing if they choose to pass. (and of course you’ve already done the above source and fact checking before you shared it.)

Here’s how I introduced a video of an interview with Dr. Anthony Fauci about COVID-19.

“Dr. Fauci discusses the “easy six” ways to control the pandemic.”

Dr. Aletha

7. Report Numbers and Satistics Accurately

Numbers should illustrate a story, not be the story. Statistics need context and interpretation. The more complex the math, the more commentary is needed to draw any valid conclusions. Most of us didn’t take enough advanced math courses in school to draw valid conclusions. When someone posts a chart with percentages and calls it “perspective”, be cautious.

In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, relying on false statistics can have serious consequences if people use them to make health decisions. An  incident with statistics incorrectly attributed to the Alabama Public Health Department illustrates the potential problem.

“It’s certainly not our chart or something we’d put out, It’s similar to charts we’ve seen around for the last five months. It has updated numbers. We’ve seen a lot of people cherry-picking the stats that prove whatever point they want to make. You just hope people realize that there’s a bigger picture.”

Alabama State Health Officer Dr. Scott Harris

8. Pause before Sharing Photos

A photo can tell a story without words; but just like with words, that story can be false, especially with the aid of AI. A photo can be fact-checked, by finding the original source and whether it’s been edited or manipulated. Here’s where you can do that.

Google Images
TinEye Reverse Image Search

9. Share Facts not Fear

People use fear to motivate and manipulate. Using phrases like “they don’t want you to see this”, “share before they remove it ”, and words like racist, fascist, communist, conspiracy, censored, socialist, control, right, left, etc. imply an urgency that usually isn’t realistic or rational. Sharing verifiable information allows your friends to draw their own conclusions based on fact not fear. 

In an article about the proliferation and promulgation of conspiracy theories, Andrew McDonald of Christianity today wrote

conspiracy theories play upon our fear by supplying a more powerful emotion: rage. Fear can so quickly morph into anger because it provides an object: they are to blame, they caused this, they deserve retribution.

Andrew MacDonald

THINK before you post or share

Words have power, so it matters how we use them. If we make a mistake and share something false, misleading, or inaccurate, then we should correct it. If warranted, delete it, and explain why.  

Harvard School of Public Health recommends we THINK twice before posting or sharing on social media-

  • Is it TRUTHFUL?
  • Is it HELPFUL?
  • Is it INSPIRING?
  • Is it NECESSARY?
  • Is it KIND?

Using Our Online Conversations for Good

If you’re interested in a Christian viewpoint on social media use, consider this book by Daniel Darling, an author and pastor. (this is an affiliate link)

Daniel Darling believes we need an approach that applies biblical wisdom to our engagement with social media, an approach that neither retreats from modern technology nor ignores the harmful ways in which Christians often engage publicly. 

 

Amazon

And in case you’d like to watch it, here is the video that prompted this post, The Ticket Without a Seat– and I still don’t know if it won an Academy Award, but I doubt it. Let me know if you find out otherwise-using the above suggestions, of course.

Exploring the HEART of Health

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cheesy-free faith-focused stock photos

Lightstock-quality photos and graphics site- here. 

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Please share this post on your social media sites so together we can make the social world safer, friendlier, and trustworthy. Thanks.

Dr. Aletha

Don’t miss this related post from this blog.

7 Resources for Responsible Social Media Sharing

The post emphasizes the importance of responsible social media usage by highlighting various resources and strategies to combat misinformation. It discusses how emotional responses can be manipulated by disinformation and urges readers to critically evaluate content before sharing. We all have a responsibility to research claims and ensure truthfulness online.

How Lilies of the Field challenged the fallacy of racism

That actor went on to have one of the most successful acting careers in history, winning numerous more awards, but more importantly appearing in productions that explored issues of race, discrimination, human rights, and justice.

“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?

 Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?

 And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?

 And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. (In the Old Testament, Solomon was a King, who was the richest man in the world at that time.)

 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 

 Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 

But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”

Matthew 6, ESV

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

“Lilies of the Field”

Although his acting ability had already won critical acclaim, a young actor made movie history in 1963 in a film based on this Bible text. In Lilies of the Field , he portrayed an itinerant handyman who meets a group of German-speaking nuns living in rural Arizona. After performing a small repair on a roof for them, he naturally asks to be paid. To which the Mother Superior replies,

“Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin. And yet I say unto you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.”

That actor went on to have one of the most successful acting careers in history, winning numerous more awards, but more importantly appearing in productions that explored issues of race, discrimination, human rights, and justice.

Sidney Poitier, now 93 years old, won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in Lilies of the Field. He was the first black man to win the best actor award, and the second black person to win any Academy award. ( Hattie McDaniel won Best Supporting Actress for her role in 1939’s Gone with the Wind, making her the first black person to be nominated for and receive an Oscar. In June 2020 HBO planned to add “historical context” to the streaming version of the movie.)

He went on to win the Golden Globe award for Best Actor in a Motion Picture Drama, the first Black person to win in that in that award program. He later won the Cecil B. DeMille lifetime achievement award in 1982.

In a post on the website The New Lyceum, Joey Barretta wrote this about the actor.

Sidney Poitier was the first black actor to win the Best Actor Oscar in 1964, the same year that the Civil Rights Act was passed and a year prior to the Voting Rights Act. He rose to be a star at a time in which racism was common and his career began before segregation was abolished. This man is a true hero, albeit one who played some compelling fictional characters setting an example for the fallacy that is racism. By portraying decent men, he set an example of excellence in character that even the prejudiced whites of his day could not ignore.

J. Baretta, March 5, 2018

Some of Mr. Poitier’s other works which delved into social issues include

  • Cry, the Beloved Country-based on the novel about apartheid in South Africa
  • To Sir, With Love-social and racial tensions in an inner city school
  • Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner – interracial marriage
  • A Patch of Blue and The Defiant Ones -interracial friendships
  • In the Heat of the Night and They Call Me Mister Tibbs!– racial bias among law enforcement professionals
  • Separate but Equal– portrayal of Thurgood Marshall, future Supreme Court Justice
  • Mandela and deKlerk-portrayal of Nelson Mandela, future President of South Africa
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from story to novel to movie

The movie was based on a 1962 novel, The Lilies of the Field , by William Edmund Barrett. He in turn used the true story of the Sisters of Walburga as his inspiration.

Why not read a post I wrote about another novel that used this Bible verse. Here’s an excerpt-

In The Narrow Corner, W. Somerset Maugham tells a story about Dr. Saunders, an English physician who lives and practices in China. He is quite in demand among wealthy Chinese; we never learn exactly why he left England but the author hints that he was more highly regarded in the Far East than he had been in Britain. 

Dr. Saunders is summoned away from his home  to a South Pacific island to attend to a wealthy man who requests his medical care. He boards a small ship with a salty captain and a young man who keeps his reason for travelling a guarded secret.

What was supposed to be a pleasant and uneventful trip to a tropical island, turned into an uncomfortable and shocking adventure when they meet four people whose lives proved more complicated that they initially appeared.  Dr. Saunders and his travelling companions soon find themselves sucked into their intrigue. 

continue reading at

The Narrow Corner- a classic novel

In The Narrow Corner, Maugham tells a story about Dr. Saunders, an English physician who lives and practices in China. He is quite in demand among wealthy Chinese; we never learn exactly why he left England but the author hints that he was more highly regarded in the Far East than he had been in…

exploring the HEART of life through literature and media

I’ll hope you’ll watch Lilies of the Field if you’ve never seen it before. And also watch some of Mr. Poitier’s other films, which I think you will find add revealing context to the social justice issues our country is confronting and correcting in the 21st century. Check out this article for some suggestions .

Dr. Aletha