HUMANS AND SOCIAL MEDIA

Why do normally “sane” persons forward
unvetted, nonsensical posts?
Is it laziness, or
is it gullibility, or
is it herd mentality, or
is it stupidity?

A social media actor,
without introducing “itself,”
without enumerating “its” qualifications,
suddenly proclaims:
that breathing nitrogen is better than oxygen;
that not drinking water prolongs your life;
that eating once a day prevents cancer;
that…

Supposedly “sane” people will forward
this nonsensical post to all their contacts
because it says “forwarded many times.”
How many sane people will put
water into the fuel tank of their automobiles
because a “forwarded many times” post
claims water improves gas mileage?

If not, why do “sane” people forward
nonsensical posts without vetting, because
the posts are captioned, “forwarded many times”?
Is it laziness, or
is it gullibility, or
is it herd mentality, or
is it stupidity?

If you know the answer, please drop a comment.

https://africastallestman.com/2025/03/09/gullibility-did-media-cause-human-gullibility-or-was-there-human-gullibility-before-social-media/