I am inherently a skeptic. Even if things are socially accepted, I don't usually conform to them. In fact, I very much like to break out from what's normal and try to be different (idk if that's for good or bad). I'm somewhat of a contrarian.
I was in school when social media became popular. From then till now, they just don't feel very real to me. On the other side, I hear a lot about how people fell in love by just connecting through social media. That is, as far as I am concerned, very real.
But, even for people like me who don't trust the internet that much, it's increasingly becoming difficult to know what's true and what's not. With the internet getting a lot more accessible, misinformation is spreading left, right and centre. I feel like it's really important to have a critical view of everything that we consume on the internet.
One thing that I try to do is to understand where the information is coming from. If it's from a person or an organisation, I explore a bit about what they do and what views they hold onto. You can easily spot a con man by just taking a look at their resumé. It usually will be very lean or they'll be trying to sell you something. These are the two main red flags. One reason it's very difficult to rule out someone as a con artist is because they usually encapsulate the lies within truths. On the surface, they may seem very logical but if you take them as it is, it's going to poison your system. All the godmen and self-proclaimed gurus I find on the internet seem to use this technique. Most of what they say is just common sense and you feel good about yourself when someone validates what you already know. But, right after that, you'll be bombarded with pseudo-scientific woos.
From now on, I’ve decided to ignore these kinds of people rather than get frustrated, and just focus on the good stuff that’s there.