Virality was once the delightful miracle of a networked age; you’d see a funny video going around, get caught up in the collective wonder and hilarity, and forward it on to your 100 closest pals. At its meme-ified best, participating in this sort of viral feast felt like a boon to collective social bonding. Remember, kids, that one glorious day we were all talking about the crazy dress? What times, what times!

But, The Dress notwithstanding, in the 2010s virality got too easy, and then it grew sour, venal and dishonest. Nobody’s counting, but by my unscientific estimate almost everything that became instantly popular online in the last decade turned out to be problematic in one way or another. That photo of the shark washed onto a freeway by a hurricane? Fake. The culture-war-defining outrage your aunt just posted to Facebook? Debunked, of course. The suddenly popular influencer? A “milkshake duck” running from his past.

Social networks and even governments are looking into ways to curb viral misinformation, but this fight will define our age. The root of the problem is that humans are weak, gullible dolts; every day many of us, even people who should know better — folks with fancy jobs and blue check marks next to our handles — keep falling for online hoaxes. Virality hijacks our better instincts, and because so many of the internet’s business models benefit from instant popularity, there’s a great deal of money and power riding on our failings.

There is only one long-term fix: that a critical number of us alter how we approach viral content. Let’s all consciously embark on a mind-set shift. In 2020, question anything that everyone’s talking about, especially if it fits all your priors, or there’s some kind of ad money involved. (Hint: There’s always ad money involved.) If you can’t stop sharing, at least slow your roll. The stakes are enormous; there’s no room for error. Strive to be better, please.

Resist the easy dunk.

In the 2010s, Twitter became the center of the political universe. In some ways this was for the better — Twitter is a haven for righteous activism against the global powers that be — but most times, it was for the worse. Twitter is a daily toxic nightmare of reflexive egotism and groupthink that will prompt you to question your priorities, not to mention your sanity.