Read More: Why you should really click this link

Filipinos reportedly represent one of the biggest populations on social networking sites, including Facebook and Twitter. As such, our voice carries far across the cyberscape. During the Ms. Universe pageant, an unverified statement favoring Philippines’ Shamcey Supsup supposedly from Oprah spread like wildfire on Social Media. A non-existent Anti-Angry Birds bill became the 4th trending topic on Twitter in the Philippines. And, more recently, a blog entry came out claiming that DPWH is suing Adobe for its ‘photoshopped’ PR release mess. Despite all these being hoaxes, a good number of netizens fell for them anyway. Most often, the truth isn't that hard to uncover. For example, if reading the 'Angry Birds' satire wasn't enough of a giveaway, the blog that published it actually had a disclaimer of its 'fictional, humorous' nature. You just had to scroll down to read it. Who do you trust? Who do you believe? Veteran journalists Bill Kovach and Tom Rosenstiel have sought to address the adverse irony of the internet in their book, “ Blur: How to Know What's True in the Age of Information Overload." According to Kovach and Rosenstiel, technology has made “orderly and homogenous process of information dissemination" impossible. They ask: “How will we decide what information to believe and which sources to trust? What is the future of truth, and how as citizens are we to discern it?" But online information is often surprisingly easy to verify, with search engines serving as very powerful yet simple-to-use tools. Case in point: At the height of Japan's nuclear crisis last March, supposed report from the BBC made the rounds, claiming that radioactive rains may fall over the Philippine islands. What should have people done? Of course, check the BBC website. But it was a simple action that many netizens failed to pursue. The power of creating and sharing information According to a data from the Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism, 37% of internet users are ‘participatory’ to news: they create, comment, and disseminate news. In an ideal world, that should translate into responsible reporting of solid facts. But, as it turns out, the opposite is more often the case. Facebook, for example, has a massive community larger than any news organization in the world. Also according to Pew Research, Facebook’s role has shifted from just being “a network for friends to share personal information to a way for people to share, recommend and link together all kinds of information, including news." With no one to man the gates or set the agenda online, netizens themselves bear the responsibility of self-monitoring and self-moderation. The first step to achieving a properly-informed cyber world: Read More. The responsible thing to do: Read More When news of Retired Major Carlos Garcia’s return to New Bilibid Prison came out last month, it caused quite a stir on Twitter and other social networks, with people crying out, “Only 2 years for Plunder?" But a closer examination of the news would have clarified that was for articles of war violations, and had nothing to do with the plunder case he is still facing before the Sandiganbayan. More recently, a House panel approved a bill exempting tollways from the 12% value added tax. And while the rest of the story revealed that the bill is still up for plenary and Senate debate, that didn't prevent some Netizens from celebrating the immediate lifting of toll fees. One wonders, then, what their reaction would be when tollway personnel tell them, “You should have read more." According to SEO Company Single Grain, the average Netizen spends 23 minutes on EACH visit to Facebook. If only even 5 minutes of that can be dedicated to reading the full story as opposed to just the title or the lead, imagine just how much more informed the online public could be. Add to this the fact —again according to Pew Research— that most online news portals' visitors are just casual users who come to the site only once or twice a month. With greater power to create and disseminate information, shouldn't we also be responsible enough to at least think and understand that information before we click? — TJD, GMA News