In the digital age, the world’s knowledge is at our fingertips. The days of looking through a card catalog and hunting down the right book are all but gone. In fact, we now use a computer to order the right book or look up the history of the Dewey Decimal System.

The Internet was intended to share information, not necessarily from person-to-person, but computer- to-computer. It was on Jan. 1, 1983, that the Internet was born, allowing different types of computers on different networks to communicate.

Now, through that invention, those computers allow people to talk across the world. From those loving words “you’ve got mail” years ago, to the ping of Facebook Messenger now, people are able to talk from anywhere at any time.

This was an incredibly meaningful advance in technology for thousands like me, who spent years away from our homes and families. When I joined the Army, cell phones weren’t what they are now. They were expensive with fees by the minute and text, not to mention roaming charges. That didn’t really matter at first, because at that time, we weren’t allowed to use them in basic training. Then, off to different duty stations, where calling from one state to another was costly. You were more apt to use a pay phone and a calling card.

Eventually, I got my first Blackberry. It was great, but relatively useless when I got ready to go overseas. So, after years of refusing to cave to peer pressure, I got my first social media account. This was actually after the fall of MySpace, so I joined the cult of Mark Zuckerberg and created a Facebook account in order to connect with my family while I was in Europe and the Middle East. Thankfully I did, as often it was my only way to communicate with my loved ones.

Now that I am home, I still use it to communicate, but now with my military family who are scattered across the world. I am also, as many may know, a self-proclaimed Facebook comedian.

Now, we have Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok and more. We share the inner workings of our minds, hearts and everything around us. Social media has given us the ability to show everyone every facet of our lives. We have leaders tweeting to connect with constituents, actors trolling each other for fun and musicians performing live for millions from the comfort of their homes.

The beauty of this technology is marred by the nefarious ways it can be used. Misinformation scattered into the wind for everyone to see and spread like a virus. This is the subject of arguments currently being heard by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Louisiana and Missouri, along with five individual people, claim that the First Amendment is being violated by the U.S. government. The claim is that social media companies were pressured into removing information that the government felt was misleading about COVID-19. Far from arguing that this didn’t occur, officials from the current administration are saying the White House is “within their rights to persuade social media companies about what they see as erroneous information about COVID-19, or foreign interference in an election or even election information about where to vote.”

I can’t say whether they are right or wrong. The Constitution was written and amended without the World Wide Web in mind. Not to mention, while powerful, these important documents carry zero weight on 94 percent of the planet.

What I can say is that freedom of speech and the ability to exercise it in a way that reaches millions of people comes with a lot of responsibility. Online, you can make a donation jar into which the whole world can contribute. You can share your triumphs to applause, your heartbreaks to sympathetic ears. You can join support groups and learn new things.

You can also hurt feelings and cause pain on a mass scale. Bullying is now on a whole new level. Divorces are publicly observed. People’s lives fall apart in front of an audience. And false information causes problems on a global scale.

When misinformation is shared on a social media outlet, it’s as infectious as the common cold in a school room. One person shares and then another until everyone has it. Then, just like the cold, it becomes significantly harder to cure.

Once upon a time, it was relatively easy to decipher what wasn’t true. Misspelled words, grammar issues and blatantly false claims were dead giveaways. Unfortunately, that isn’t so easy now. Information is wrapped up in pretty packaging with bows that look legitimate.

Disregarding our own personal biases, it’s important to look at the source of a post before sharing it. Make sure it’s coming from a person or institution you trust. Maybe even run your own search to verify it before posting.

Look past the information being shared to the verbiage being used. For example, each year, multiple times a year, I see the same post on Facebook and it hits me hard every time. It asks for prayers for a particular unit of Marines in Afghanistan who have lost nine of their own, and states that it happened “yesterday.” The post gives no dates or times and shows a combat patch that isn’t related to that unit. It then goes on to state that the United States doesn’t care about its military because no one is reporting it.

No one is completely certain, but the theory for this post is that it originates from a truly devastating situation that occurred in Afghanistan in 2010. It was widely covered all over the world. Two of those killed were Marines, however, eight were Army soldiers and one was a military member of the United Kingdom’s Royal Logistics Corps. This instance is the closest to what the post claims.

This may seem well-intended, but the post was rife with inaccuracy. I can’t imagine the pain of loved ones of any number of those killed overseas at seeing a post like that over and over on any day of the year.

We learned as children that words hurt and they have unintended consequences. Now that is true on a global level. Not only can the world see our ups and downs personally, but they can judge our country, state and community based on our residents’ posts. Perhaps that’s why the majority of my social media posts lack a serious tone.

I’m not saying to stop posting. I am a big fan. I love seeing my community’s events and its people. I get plenty of information from social media and learn things I didn’t know. We have so much knowledge to be reaped and shared with the click of a mouse. With that, I try to remember that “knowledge is power” and “with great power comes great responsibility.” Teri L. Hansen Reporter