Much Ado About Nothing
Los Angeles was recently hit by a hurricane. Depending on what part of the internet you live on, we were about to be hit by THE BIG ONE—or it was all much ado about nothing.
In my area, it was definitely the latter, but in the days leading up to the storm, despite it being downgraded as it came closer and closer to California, you would think that LA was about to experience record-breaking wind and rain. We were told to prepare, sent multiple emergency warnings, and the city ran low on water bottles.
And yet, most of this mass hysteria played out online. Suddenly my family and colleagues were calling and texting me, checking on me. All I had to report was that I’d given in, stocked up on groceries and moved all of my patio furniture so it wouldn’t fly away…only to have a patio that I still haven’t put together and a silly amount of shelf-stable food.
People were in mass hysteria over very little. I knew that this was all very lucky, and I’m very grateful that it ended up that way (there were some who were not as lucky, and these warnings likely helped mitigate bigger consequences). And yet, according to Ted Cruz, sharks were swimming on the freeway. But were they? No, he fell for one of the oldest memes on the internet.
This all got me thinking, in a world where we live our lives on the internet, what does it mean to be a good digital citizen?
Battling the spread of misinformation is by now a well-trod subject, and one I won’t stick you with reading a full essay on. It did make me think, though, that some of us speak in memes—we know what is a joke and what isn’t—and some of us just don’t.
As a marketer, and a social media user writ large, how do I stop myself from creating much ado about nothing?
First and foremost, stopping the spread of misinformation by sharing news from only legitimate sources is the biggest step we can take for those who are not as digitally savvy. Those of us who do know the difference between a meme or satire account and real news have the responsibility to share real content, or make clear that something is a joke.
Some would say that taking care of others online is not our responsibility, but as the globe grows smaller as more users hop onto the same websites, don’t we owe it to each other to keep the internet a safe space? As I write this, I feel ridiculous saying it, and yet I think back to when I was in computer class at school and we were taught how to check our sources. Not everyone gets that.
Often I think about brand safety, what can a brand say or not say, do or not do, be associated with, in order to maintain its good standing. I see this as the same, but for the internet as a whole. If we want more people online, we have to make it a friendly place to be.
But until we all get on that page, let’s at least make sure we aren’t feeding into hysteria. We all have that parent or family member who sends us fake articles constantly, and we have to explain to them why it isn’t a real news source. Let’s make all of our lives a little easier.
Lesson Learned: Understanding meme culture and news sources isn’t for all of us, but we can all work toward being better digital citizens. Let’s check our sources and help others do the same.
