Casino at Meyers Lake Plaza? Baby parts found in Canton? Social media rumors gone wild

Over the last few weeks, we've published stories knocking down wild and unfounded rumors circulating through the community.

One of the biggest is a Facebook-fueled, death-defying rumor that the Meyers Lake Plaza is being purchased by MGM Resorts International to build a casino.

It speaks to our short attention span in forgetting that Ohioans approved a state constitutional amendment in 2009 that limits casinos to four cities, hence the proliferation of skeevy and illegal skills games parlors everywhere else.

But facts often are no match for what we want to believe. As the saying goes, "A lie often travels around the world before the truth can even get its shoes on."

The problem is, it causes real upheaval for real people. In this case, the Meyers Lake rumor has threatened the livelihoods of merchants in the plaza, with some customers believing they're going out of business.

In turn, the plaza's owners have had to spend time fielding calls from panicked tenants.

There are times when galloping gossip can be exceedingly harmful, as was the case in Carrollton in 2019 during an investigation surrounding the death of a 14-year-old boy. Facebook posts spreading incendiary and incorrect information were so rampant, Carroll County Sheriff Dale Williams issued a public statement asking people to stop.

Harm by click: Social media adding to families' suffering

Most recently, the Canton Police Department had to issue a statement flatly refuting rumors seeping from social media that "child body parts" had been discovered.

That doesn't mean some folks still won't believe it.

Like JFK Jr. reappearing any day now, we tend to embrace the sensational, even when it borders on the ridiculous. There are, after all, formerly rational people who claim there's a worldwide cabal kidnapping kids to harvest their adrenochrome, a byproduct of adrenaline.

Rumor-mongering wasn't born online. At the turn of the 20th century, P.T. Barnum enticed and enthralled Americans with displays which defined science, logic and common sense; nevertheless, people couldn't get enough.

We like to think we're more enlightened these days, but some of us are old enough to remember dead-Elvis sightings, and when "Batboy" graced the cover of the Weekly World News. People who have paid mortgages and raised children will tell you that 9/11 was an inside job, and the moon landing was faked — the best part of that one being when an 80-something Buzz Aldrin popped a heckler in the mouth.

It suggests that in many ways, we're worse because we have plenty of factual information at the ready, yet too many of us refuse to embrace it because it doesn't fit our narratives or our personal and political agendas.

The danger of social media is that we're all susceptible. We trust others to be responsible and honest when it is clear that some people have no such intention in mind. The Chinese philosopher Sun Tzu noted that "An evil man will burn his own nation to the ground to rule over the ashes." Or, as Batman's butler Alfred put it: "Some men just want to watch the world burn."

For all of our shortcomings, most media outlets do strive for accuracy, and have no problem with making corrections when we get it wrong. Outlets which lose sight of this basic principle end up cutting $787. million checks to Dominion Voting Systems.

Because not everyone's aim is true, we all must strive to be more skeptical and vigilant. Perhaps the late great Marvin Gaye put it best: "People say believe half of what you see, and none of what you hear."

Charita M. Goshay is a Canton Repository staff writer and member of the editorial board. Reach her at 330-580-8313 or charita.goshay@cantonrep.com. On Twitter: @cgoshayREP

This article originally appeared on The Repository: Rumors burden authorities, foster fear, Charita Goshay says