Poorva Chavan
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Written By: Poorva Chavan | Updated : July 1, 2016 9:39 AM IST
Most of us wake up to at least more than 10 WhatsApp messages from different groups that we are a part of. Some of the messages are just good morning messages but once in a while we do get a message about a missing person. The message usually contains the missing person's photograph with name and information such as height, complexion, etc. and number for contact in case your spot or find the person.
These kind of messages are very common and are forwarded blindly to other WhatsApp groups and people in contact lists. Most of us are guilty of doing that. But have you ever thought about how old that message is or if the person has already been found? Yes, WhatsApp has become a great means of communication and helps to reach out a lot of people. But that does mean we forward every so called important message that we get in a bid to help others. It is important to check the credibility of the message.
Another common message is the request to donate blood. Yes, these messages are urgent and yes, you should help to save someone's life but, many times, these messages are forwarded so many times and reach us only after a couple of days. It is best to verify that these messages are new and forward them only if they are relevant.
How to verify? Well, just call the number provided in the message and verify if the person has been found. If yes, don't forward the message, if no, forward it!
Apart from these missing person messages, messages that claim that some cure has been found for a deadly disease. The recent message that has been doing round is a drug that cures cancer has been found and is available for free at Adyar Cancer Institute in Chennai. On doing some online search, I found that this message is indeed a hoax and totally untrue.
Let's not even get started on those messages which wish you bad luck if you don't forward them to 10 people in the next 10 seconds. I just hope we all know they DO NOT bring any kind of bad luck, neither forwarding them to 10 people makes your wish come true! So don't forward these messages! And as far as those messages which urge you to help people, verify them before hitting send.
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