Use that thing between your ears.

By now, most of the world knows about what happened at the Boston Marathon yesterday.  An unimaginably horrible act by some sick individual/group who, as of yet, has not bothered to take responsibility or give motive for the destruction.

This morning, as I checked Facebook, I was met with many images, status updates, and posts sending thoughts and prayers to those affected by this bombing.

One particular image caught my eye.  A photo of a bespectacled little girl running with determination, her long hair blowing in the wind behind her.  She was wearing a runners bib - obviously in a race.  The note to the side of the photo reads:

"See this little girl?
She died today.
She was running in the marathon for the Sandy Hook kids.
She's 8.
Repost if you respect her.
Wear red tomorrow to support her and the others who died."

Touches the heartstrings, doesn't it?  An innocent 8 year old child caught in a senseless tragedy.  Naturally, this photo has been shared some 83,400 time in the 10 hours it's been on Facebook.

I didn't feel it was appropriate for me to share the photo here, mostly because....

IT ISN'T TRUE!!!!

And anyone, ANYONE, with HALF A BRAIN could figure that out.

For starters, 10 hours ago, when this picture emerged, the identities of the victims of the bombings had not been released.  About 3 hours ago, they had released that an 8 year old did in fact die - an 8 year old boy who was watching the race.  The little girl is wearing a runners bib that clearly says: Joe Cassella 5k.  Last time I checked, that is not what the Boston Marathon is called.  It took 5 seconds to Google this race and find that it takes place in May every year, in Grand Falls VA.  It isn't May yet; this race has not yet happened.  Which means that last May, at the 2012 race, this little girl could not have been running 'for the Sandy Hook kids' because that particular senseless tragedy didn't happen until December 2012!

What sort of ASSHAT takes a random photo of an innocent little girl, adds some ridiculous, yet emotionally charged, LIES to that photo and then sends it out on the internet just for the sake of seeing how many gullible people will spread that lie?

With the ever-increasing popularity of social media, I'm seeing this kind of crap more and more.  Facebook seems to be a breeding ground for it, but even Pinterest is not immune.  Honestly, do you really think that adding baking soda and peroxide to Mountain Dew will make it glow?  I see this 'experiment' on Pinterest almost daily.  One might argue that it will improve the taste, but it's still just carbonated sugar water; it's not going to glow!  (Hate to burst your bubble, but that picture has been photoshopped.)

It seems to go against our natural human instincts to be critical and question what we see and hear; we want desperately to be able to trust everyone.  But time and time again, we're proven wrong - there are just too many asshats out there, sitting behind the private veil of a computer screen, spreading lies and deceit for the sake of.... of what?  Popularity?  For the most part, it's being done anonymously; there is no popularity to be won - so what sort of sadistic kicks are they getting out of this??  It's unfortunate that these people wouldn't put a little bit of effort into something more constructive.

Quite often, I think it's a case of, "Well, it might be true, so if I pass it on I'm doing a good thing.  And even if it isn't true... it's not really hurting anyone."  And the lies are spread from one friend group to the next, gaining exponential speed across the internet.  But I ask you one thing:  If that was your picture, instead of that little girl's, claiming that YOU had died at the marathon, how would you feel?  How do you think that little girl's parents feel?  What a horrible violation of a person's life!  It's essentially identity theft and it's criminal.  There was an article circulated around Facebook not two weeks ago, from the Calgary Herald, about this exact thing, and yet the problem persists.  Until we find a way to cure people of asshattery, this will continue to be a problem.

It is wrong and I am tired of it.  But we can all take steps to prevent further spread of these hoaxes.  It takes less than 30 seconds, using that thing between your ears, to do a bit of research on Google (or Snopes.com) to figure out if something is true or not. Everyone, whether you choose to believe it or not, has a brain; so if I catch you not using your brain and spreading one of these hoaxes, without checking the validity of the story, I'm going to personally have you banned from the internet!

And one more thing, get on your Facebook account right now and double check ALL of your privacy settings.  Who has access to your photos?  Don't let yourself become the next victim of asshattery.