If a stranger came up to you on the street and said "Hey, I know your friend Jen. By the way, did you hear that an asteroid is hitting the planet sometime next week and we're all going to die?" —would you repeat that to everyone you know? Or would you try and suss out whether this person (this stranger, even though you may have a mutual friend) had the correct information?
It's everyone's responsibility to be good online citizens. Sometimes, that means doing your homework before spreading information. Here's a fascinating story about an Amelia Bedelia hoax. In short: years ago, as a joke, a college student edited the Wikipedia entry for Amelia Bedelia with incorrect information. But that information stuck around, was never deleted, and has now been reported as fact in many reputable outlets.
School Library Journal talks to librarians about how they educate kids on what's real—or not—on the Internet. It's worth a read.
