Whenever a major tragedy happens around the world, I usually find out about it through social media, whether it’s a Buzzfeed article or a tweet on my timeline. Then I scroll even further down and I usually see a Twitter fight about that certain event, each person throwing around random facts that usually don't even pertain to the issue, unwilling to give up. The intent is firm. However, these people just don't know enough to find themselves in a well thought out argument. I then wonder if my peers truly understand what they’re saying or if they’re basing their ideas off of fragments of retweets, Facebook statuses or articles they skimmed through.

Social media is so prevalent in today’s society that it’s almost impossible to find yourself without an outlet to voice your opinion. It’s great that there’re more opportunities for people to take up their first amendment right, but it’s also scary how many people spread information and opinions without having any idea what they’re truly talking about. Growing up, I always knew to take what I heard on the internet as a grain of salt. However, social media has grown to become such a large part of our lives that it’s hard not to be swayed by what we see right in front of our eyes, especially when we know very little about something. For example, one person who uses the small amount of information they know about a current event to create a tweet that states his or her opinion can lead to another person reading that tweet and choosing to side with it because they:

1. Have absolutely no idea what the other person is talking about
2. Have a slight idea about what’s happening so he or she chooses to agree because fact checking equates actually researching the topic.

This then leads to another tweet as we all want to get our two cents in on a major event. Then another, until timelines are filled with half truths and strong opinions that rile up the cathartic nature in all of us. This isn’t how it should be happening. So many movements, political actions and forms of social justice are tainted with the uneducated views of so many people that have convinced themselves they know what they’re talking about because they’ve “kinda” read an article on the internet or seen other people talk about it on social media pages. Uneducated opinions all piggyback off of each other until everyone has convinced themselves they "definitely know what they're talking about because they saw everyone else talk about it!!" Before we take time out of our days to share our opinions, we first need to get informed. Education isn’t scrolling through your Facebook feed to see what your friends have to say about something or looking at the top tweets under a hashtag. It’s diligently researching what you’re talking about and seeing multiple perspectives on an issue.Our words matter and they deserve to matter. Our voices matter and they deserve to matter. Words have so much weight to them that we cannot let them go to waste. Social media is the only way for most people to get involved and transcend messages. I understand that we are all angry with the chaos happening around the world today. There's absolutely no point in fighting for a cause, being so rooted in your stance if you have no idea what you truly believe in. You cannot spread a message without completely understanding what exactly the words you speak mean. Make that tweet that voices your outrage over the most recent shooting or bombing. But before you do, realize that every one of the 144 characters you type matters. Truly believe, understand and encompass every single character.