> And though Second Commenter is lazy, we recognize the dismissive potato-potahto sentiment. “Come on, don’t be a party pooper.” We feel that in social situations. Don’t challenge. It’ll be awkward. If someone posts the Time piece on their Facebook wall, it’s a little jerky to post LaPrade’s rebuttal in the comments. That’s why the good doctor’s post won’t have as strong legs in correcting the record; a lot of the people who cared about posting the “discovery” the first time will shy from posting that it actually wasn’t. It makes them look duped.
This seems to me like the most important takeaway here. I've corrected people on Facebook many times and gotten pretty nasty replies for doing so, but honestly it's for the better if just one person isn't fooled by a misleading story or outright lie.
On the same note, I give things a lot of time and thought before posting anything on any network, especially if it's opinionated.