My mother thinks Barack Obama is a "radical Muslim" because of a garbage e-mail forward. The problem is that my mother is otherwise quite
My mother, who is 61, thinks Barack Obama is hiding the fact that he is a "radical Muslim" because of a garbage e-mail forward she read. That's nothing special. I'm sure there are lots of older folks who mistake fabricated e-mail forwards for the truth.
What scares me is that my mom is otherwise quite reasonable. She's smart and healthy and she's a life-long Democrat. She is simply new to technology and computers and e-mail. She believes that, if an e-mail is forwarded to her by a friend or family member, it must be true.
My point is that, as we move into this year's elections, it's important for us all to speak with older family members or loved ones who are exploring new technologies. Make sure they know that they shouldn't always believe what they read online. I turned my mom onto Snopes.com to debunk the myriad forwards she receives every day. Hopefully, she'll now be better equipped to tell fact from fiction.