THIS MAY BE WRONG: CROSS CHECK.

Data is affordable, and ring lights are, too. In an age where almost everyone has advice to give—much of it unsolicited. We find ourselves in a precarious position. In a world where AI can be hallucinating and humans can be "loud and wrong," we must be fiercely protective of what we let into our minds and hearts. It takes seconds to type an absurd story that wears the mask of truth. The digitization of information has birthed a wave of "faux knowledge," allowing those with little expertise to masquerade as authorities. This isn't to discredit the real professionals using the internet for good, but rather to highlight the static they have to scream through. I recently spoke with someone who abandoned a practice that had been working perfectly for her, simply because she saw a video online claiming it was "bad." When I asked if her method had ever failed her, she shook her head.It was a sobering realization: people are making life-altering decisions based on digital snapshots. This triggers a decline in independent thinking, giving rise to a dangerous herd mentality. We see it everywhere—like the story on X where a girl blocked her boyfriend because a viral tweet told her to "block him and see what you’re actually dating." That story, predictably, ended on a very unpalatable note. It is easy to internalize experiences that aren't ours and base our reactions and actions on them. I—the one writing this—am in no way free of this. But the first step to freedom is realizing you are in chains. If the chains feel "normal," how do we ever break them? There is a place for intuition and one for internalised prejudice. Many things may cause internalised prejudice, but the focus of this piece is that of social media. We often walk as if there are eggshells on the floor when the ground is perfectly solid. We mistake internalized prejudice for intuition, and much of that prejudice is fed to us by social media. While consuming content ,we should endeavour to wrap our minds in objectivity. We shouldn't just take in like a baby who is forced to drink pap in the African way: the nose is blocked and the mouth is forced open. This method ensures that food gets into the belly, but a lot of things could go wrong.The belly might be full, but the risk of choking is high. A wise woman once told me: "Take all the advice on your way home. When you get there, sit down and toss away the ones you don’t need." Verify your sources. Check the credentials. Don’t assume you are an expert in another person’s field because you watched a sixty-second clip or even a sixty- minute one, they spent years in the trenches of practice. Be digitally conscious, think for yourself, and stay safe.

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