Nowadays being part of an array of community groups is the norm, and we have all seen the benefit of staying up to date. That being said, the rapid spread of unchecked information leads to misinformation.
We’ve all seen it before, a dodgy forwarded text with poor spelling expounding the end of times. These texts ripple and scatter across the internet until the clear falsehood is taken as fact. With the Randwater maintenance projects in full swing, some misinformation has slipped through the cracks and now is as good a time as ever to set things straight.
Check your sources
If the information shared with you is unverifiable, and a Google search yields no results then the chances are it is false. Randwater issues media statements that go through to the press so if you can’t find the information from the horse’s mouth nor can you find it from a reputable news outlet such as Infrastructure News then it is best to ignore it.
Some of the misinformation is written in a way that deliberately sparks outrage. This is obviously problematic in these times when access to information about something that is potentially impacting you is hindered by nonsense.
A widely circulated image detailing affected areas for a specified date recently sparked outrage and confusion. The maintenance for this area was complete, but the image made it seem like another outage was on the way. The image looked professional, but again it was nowhere to be found on reputable new outlets, only group chats on WhatsApp.
Parallel to the issue of completely fake news is another issue of people sharing old information or information that has since been updated. If the information is not current, it is likely misleading. An old image from 2023 began circulating WhatsApp groups which lead to a lot of frustration, as the image detailed areas to be affected by upcoming maintenance that was already completed.
An old image shared as if it was new caused some confusion regarding maintenance
The problem with misinformation
This spread of false info goes beyond a simple annoyance, if people are unaware of the actual maintenance plans these could spark concern. If the information is counter to the actual information this could lead people to prepare for outages that never come or experience an outage they did not plan for.
If misinformation is telling you that your area has no water and there is an actual problem, it might go unreported for much longer and cause further problems.
What to do
If you have checked your sources and found the info so confidently shared with you to be false, it is best to tell people that it is false. It is also important that you do not share it.
If you want to stay in the loop then remember that Randwater will issue statements pertaining to Randwater, municipalities will issue statements for themselves, and reputable news outlets will have to fact-check their information before sharing it.
