This post is a political warning for you. Tuesday, November 5^th is fast approaching and the pressure is on. My writing today isn’t about how you should vote, that is totally up to you. (I would encourage you to vote, rather than sit out the election.) However, I want to warn you about some things happening primarily on the Internet.

Social Media Manipulation

If you are on any Social Media platform, let me warn you that what you see isn’t always what is true. Let me give you an example. For several days, Facebook was marking this photo as “misinformation” and blocking people who posted it.

The photo of former President Trump after the assassination attempt is now considered “iconic.” After being called out by people on the X platform, Facebook acknowledged its mistake and stopped blocking the photo. (HERE.)

As you might guess, there are those on the various platforms who believe this wasn’t a “mistake” but that it was done intentionally by Facebook. I have no proof either way but just be warned that some will try to convince you one way or the other.

Search Engine Manipulation

If you use Google Search, you should be aware that strange things happen there, too. Some people have complained that when they typed in “President Donald Trump” the “Top Stories” search results were about Kamala Harris. When I tried that a few days ago, this was true. However, as of the writing of this post, it is not. Again, just be aware that search results can and sometimes are manipulated by the company owning the search engine. (Another good reason to use more than one search engine, e.g., DuckDuckGo, Bing.)

Another Political Warning – Email Scammers

Regardless of the event – hurricane, flood, snowstorm, or election, there will always be those scammers who try to take advantage. Be leery of emails that appear in your Inbox asking for donations to get this person or that person elected. Many of these emails are fake. If you click on a link you might be taken to a site that looks like the real one but is a fake. When you put in your credit card or bank information, you may be funding some real scammer. If you want to donate to a candidate, just go directly to their website instead of going from an email.

While local politicians will have their own places to donate, here are the legitimate sites for the three major Presidential contenders.

Text Messages

Just about everyone has a device that receives text messages. This is another place to be careful. You might receive a text that appears to be from a friend asking you to support a candidate but it might be from a spoofed account. Again, answering the text or clicking on some link may get you into hot water.

A Political Warning Conclusion

I can’t stress the importance of voting in the November election. In the 2020 Presidential election, only 66% of eligible voters voted. Let’s make that as close to 100% as possible this year. Just be careful that you don’t allow your opinions about a candidate to be formed from misinformation or manipulated sources found on the Internet. Instead, research from as many different areas as you can rather than rely on just one source.