In the wake of the Boston bombings I’m left asking what kind of sickness drives a person to create fake stories that feed off disaster? What could possible push a person to crave attention so much that they use a tragedy to manipulate social media to get noticed or even create profit?
Within hours of the Boston Marathon explosions I was seeing friends sharing tragic stories of love and loss via social networking sites. The sad thing was, the stories weren’t true. Other, less honourable people had devised stories to take advantage of the bombings and to manipulate good people into sharing their cruel creations online.
It wasn’t that the people that were sharing the stories were naive or gullible, it’s that they were trusting and it never entered their minds that someone could be so callous as to make up stories that would feed on the misery of others. My friends had acted in good faith. Those who had created the stories were feeding off the misery of others.
The death of innocence
Hundreds of thousands of people shared the picture of a small girl who supposedly died in the blasts. She wasn’t even there. It was the photo of a young, very much alive, young girl. I can only imagine the kind of damage that will cause her and her family.
Love lost
Many others shared the story of the man who lost the love of his life before he had a chance to propose. The story said he was going to propose to his girlfriend after the marathon. It even had a picture of him kneeling over her lifeless body. The picture was real but it was actually a guy helping a stranger after the explosion. She didn’t die either.
Some people took the opportunity to create Twitter accounts or to register domains to either cash in on tragedy or stroke their sick egos. I’m also now receiving spam emails with titles like, “Boston Explosion Caught on Video”, “2 Explosions at Boston Marathon” and “Video of Explosion at the Boston Marathon 2013”, all designed to use people’s natural interest in the tragedy to get them to click o links that will compromise their computers.
It’s so sad to think that today’s “what’s in it for me” generation has gone beyond simply being self seeking to becoming oblivious to the suffering of other people.
Check before posting
While it’s yet another reminder for all of us to check details before we share anything on social media, it’s also concerning to see this developing trend of people being prepared to ignore their conscience to further their own interests. Shocking when you realise that those interests are often just about seeing a fake story shared or liked across the world.
If you’re looking for a way to check some of the stories that you see on social media let me recommend Snopes and Hoax Slayer. A quick visit to either of those sites should confirm whether a story is true or not.
There’s good news too
Thankfully there’s good news coming out of social media use too. The vast majority of people around the world have been using social media networks such as Facebook and Twitter to keep others informed, offer help, and to encourage others to pray. Then there are stories like the one where a Melbourne Dad praises Facebook for helping to find his daughter after Boston bombings.
Directed away from the area by police and without a mobile phone Mr Phillips had no way of contacting Annabel or his wife, Suzy – until a kind stranger offered him their phone, and he was able to leave a message for them on Facebook.
If you want to find out more about some of the stories being shared check out Some of the most emotional Boston marathon stories are fake.
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