Why you SHOULDN’T “type Amen and share”

Why you SHOULDN’T “type Amen and share” posts of sick children

If you’ve been on Facebook at all, you’ve probably seen those pleading posts, featuring a very sick child or a suffering

animal. Often the posts also show a picture of Jesus, with a request for the viewer to take action.

“Type Amen for this baby and share,” the post commands. “Keep scrolling if you’re heartless.”

Pretty soon, sometimes even in the course of hours or a few days, that Facebook post can be seen on the walls and news feeds of thousands of presumably well-meaning people.

But as in the case of a baby photo that was used in a post like this in mid-December, which had been shared more than 23,000 times in a few weeks, The Babies parents said “we didn’t know it was being used until some of our Facebook followers alerted us, and we definitely did not give permission.”

When it comes to posts like this, one share does NOT equal one prayer. One like does NOT mean you think the baby with a physical disability or difference is “still cute.” One comment does NOT mean the sick child or abused puppy “will be saved.”

What Are you doing when you comment or share?

Here’s what you’re actually doing when you type Amen or share the photo on your wall:

You’re exploiting what is most likely a stolen image of a child whose family has no idea it is being used.
You’re making the owners of the page that posted it or the twisted people who stole the photo and created the post a lot of money.

Why do people steal and use images of sick babies or suffering creatures without permission?

Since Facebook’s algorithms place a high value on popularity (as measured by likes and shares), these highly liked and shared pages have a higher chance of appearing in people’s “Feeds” and being seen by other Facebook users. Then, once the page has a sufficiently high popularity rating, the “like-farmer” either removes the page’s original content and replaces it with something else (usually malware or scam advertising); leaves the page as is and uses it as a platform for continued “like-farming” to spread malware, collect people’s marketing information or engage in other harmful activities; or outright sells the highly liked site to cybercriminals in a black market web forum.

When you engage with posts like this, you make them popular. When they’re popular, the owner of the page can then sell it.

Unfortunately, children with ichthyosis are often the subject of many of these posts, because the condition is so physically noticeable and can often be shocking to people who haven’t seen it before.  The photos of many in the ichthyosis community have been stolen and used for posts like these.

When you don’t want to be “heartless,” so you respond to the request for “One Share = One Prayer” by sharing the image with your friends, you’re actually doing very real harm. Please think twice before you like, comment or share any posts like this on Facebook, so that you’re not exploiting children.

Post used from http://www.courtneywestlake.com/why-you-shouldnt-share-posts-of-sick-children/ and was adapted for the website by TECCS Computer Repairs.

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