Do not go where the wind blows

Lately, our government has been rolling out new rules to curb the misbehavior in the entertainment industry, which, without doubt, is exactly what society has been crying out for.

Nowadays, much of the younger generation loves to spend leisure time updating their accounts on micro blog and using it as a window into the latest trends, which means micro blog has become for Generation Z a major source of information for the world around us, more than official news channels.

A successful cook would never deny that a delicious meal is also the product of fine ingredients, and the same logic applies to micro blog, which unfortunately is short on quality, with a large proportion of its information at a lackluster level.

Instead, micro blog has become a hodgepodge of emotions where all sorts of information gets aggregated and stirred up. Within minutes, we could be presented with a plethora of bombshells, and suddenly, in the next few seconds, the latest news about a celebrity catches our eyes, before being bombarded by another round of nonsense. Scrolling through the comments below every post exposes us to countless divergent opinions, accusations and even personal abuse.

The irony is that some social media users post their so-called news with words chosen to deliberately mislead viewers and spark a reaction, a far cry from what a news report should be. What's even worse is that few people realize they're being manipulated by others.

It does make me wonder why we're so discerning and picky when we plan our trips on vacation but are so numb and lacking in critical thinking when it comes to accepting information. It's high time that we spotlight this phenomenon. Not every source of news on social media platforms is authorized, and the fact is that most are composed of clickbait and advertising.

Apart from promoting unverified content, some personal accounts also encourage consumerism by posting images of faraway and seemingly fancy lives, striking a nerve among followers and luring them into squandering their hard-earned money, which deviates from the traditional virtues of thrift that our nation has long been advocating.

The interest-driven social media accounts are losing their integrity and reliability.

We have often heard that an innocent protagonist in a hotly debated issue confronts a barrage of false accusations and poignant messages from a swarm of people driven by misleading headlines and commits suicide in the wake of those unbearable misunderstandings. Nobody pays for rumors, and rehabilitation seems feeble in changing the irreversible truth. Such events are a reminder that the arbitrariness of social media accounts and the indifference to the authenticity of information are no less a form of murder.

Evidently, there is no silver bullet to this problem, and accountability rests with every individual, requiring each of us to stay alert amid the gust of miscellaneous voices. Do not go where the wind blows.

Zhong Di is a student from Sichuan.

The opinions expressed here are those of the writer and do not necessarily represent the views of China Daily and China Daily website.

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