In the blink of an eye, William Shatner went from responsibly addressing a mild blood sugar oopsie to reading his own obituary. What began as a precautionary measure turned into rapidly spreading rumors that resulted in the beloved 94-year-old actor having to inform the world that he’s not dead yet, so chill out with the farewell tweets and the Star Trek tribute threads. Who knew that precautionary measures for a little dip in blood sugar could turn into such a wildfire?
Me. I knew. Because the art of checking your sources before hitting “post” is one that we have collectively forgotten.
Here’s what happened: William Shatner realized that he was experiencing an unexpected dip in his blood sugar. Given that he’s not exactly a spring chicken at 94 years old, he sought medical attention to make sure that all was well. He was never hospitalized, but TMZ sure did report that he was. The clickbait headline began doing serious numbers on social media, and the next thing the actor knew, he was reading about his own death. The inaccurate story of his hospitalization and death quickly evolved without anyone taking a beat to check the facts and make sure that anything they were sharing was actually true. Somewhere between an entertainment blog and 17 different TikTok tributes, a simple “I overindulged” turned into “beloved sci-fi icon in critical condition.”
This isn’t the first time this has happened — and it won’t be the last — until we collectively learn to check our impulses and verify information prior to making it our personal mission to act as the town crier of the internet. There’s a hit of instant gratification that comes with feeling like you’re the “first” to share big news. Then you get dopamine from the engagement that results from sharing shocking information. And because the internet is addicted to drama, the actual person on the other end of the false story has to arrive on the scene of a rumor mill that’s already churned out a false-information snowball that’s going to be tricky to rein in. You can only fit so much information into a headline, even when it’s not clickbait. The tricky part is that people often don’t read past the headline to get the full picture. This isn’t just a thing that happens to older actors — it’s a documented trend of broader online behavior.
Jokes aside, this is a serious problem that’s affecting the way we perceive breaking news. Clicking before thinking comes with a cost — and it’s one that isn’t possible to pay off upfront. False narratives can cause panic as they spread misinformation and drown out facts. They also erode public trust in media outlets, which makes it harder to clock actual emergencies when they’re happening. When you’re emotionally devastated over and over again by what turns out to be inaccurate information, you learn over time that you can’t trust what you’re reading. That leads to dismissing crucial information from reliable sources that are also showing up in digital spaces. In this instance, Shatner joked about the situation with a well-placed Mark Twain reference, but he also cautioned people to be more careful with openly trusting everything they read.
So how can you stop the spread of misinformation? Here. Have a quick crash course on media literacy and the news.
Step 1: Pause before you post: Yes, I understand the impulse. I respond the exact same way. However, it’s imperative that you take a beat and ask yourself if what you’re reading is from a reliable source.
Step 2: Read beyond the headline: Headlines are there first and foremost to grab your attention and then give you an extremely broad idea of what the bigger picture is about. Most falsehoods (and the best rumor fodder) live in the fine print of the article that reeled you in with a catchy headline.
Step 3: Check for primary sources: When reading beyond the headline, look to see if the information is coming from someone involved in the story. Is this a credible outlet, or is this information coming to you live from the imagination of someone with an anime avatar who trolls for attention?
Step 4: Check your feelings: When a news story makes you immediately feel big feelings, that’s a sign that you need to slow down and proceed with intention — yes, even though your heartbeat is actively going up.
William Shatner may be old, but he’s made it clear that he’s not going anywhere just yet. However, if our society doesn’t get better at checking facts before we share information, our collective credibility just might be done. If you want to be a solution instead of a problem, it’s as easy as thinking twice before hitting “share.”
