50 Weird Facts No One Really Asked For, But They’re Pretty Neat To Know (New Facts)

In this day and age, when the internet and social media are so easily accessible, information can spread lightning-fast. Unfortunately, it’s not just real facts that get shared and reshared but misinformation and fake news as well. That’s why media literacy is such an important skill to develop, no matter your age: it allows you to see what’s biased, politicized, and opinionated and what’s grounded in the truth.

Verywell Mind explains that media literacy essentially lets you detect, analyze, and evaluate negative or false media messages. In other words, you can make better and more informed decisions as you start taking control of media again, allowing you to enjoy it more. Furthermore, research shows that you may become happier and healthier as a result.

When you get into the habit of thinking critically about the content you come across online, you are less likely to reshare something that may be false without first analyzing it. A good rule of thumb is to think about the intent of the person or organization posting the information. If something sounds too good or bad to be true, it very often might be biased, subjective, or warped to promote someone’s goals.

Because most of us are super busy with work, studying, chores, family, and all the other adult responsibilities in our lives, it’s unfeasible to double-check every single fact. So, it’s best to evaluate the reliability of the sources. All news and media sources make mistakes from time to time, but they’re not all equal. Trustworthy sources will provide references for any claims they make and will admit to any mistakes they’ve made while reporting something.

Cornell University points out that one of the signs of an unreliable source is lots of spelling and grammar errors in the text. On the flip side, credible news sources tend to have very rigorous editing processes. (Though, how easy access to generative AI will affect this is still to be seen.)

Meanwhile, where serious claims are concerned, you should take a bit of time to cross-check the information with multiple reputable sources so you get a broader perspective on the issue, instead of sticking to just your echo chamber and reading what you want to be true. Generally speaking, diversifying your ‘diet’ of new sources is healthy.

Content shared by ‘Weird Facts’ is something that you’ve probably stumbled upon in your social media feeds at some point in time. It’s that widespread. Though it’s far from the only project to share interesting facts online (there are tons and tons!), it is one of the most well-known ones.

On Facebook alone, the curators of the project have amassed a whopping 6.9 million followers. Meanwhile, 1.2 million people follow the ‘Weird Facts’ page on Instagram, while another 301k follow it on Threads.