Fake Photos of Sandy on the 74th Anniversary of the War of the Worlds Broadcast

Sevety four years ago to this day, Orson Welles narrated the “War of the Worlds” radio broadcast as a Halloween special for the Mercury Theater on Air. The program consisted of two realistic news stories documenting the invasion of New York City by hostile Martians. This radio show caused widespread panic because some people actually believed that the broadcast was real because of the fact that it took place on the radio, a trusted news source.

It seems that since then we have not learned very much. During the initial stages of Hurricane Sandy, fake photos of the approaching storm circulated through Twitter and Facebook giving those starved for images an outlet. In my search for coverage, I myself participated in the sharing of one of these photos believing that it was real. However, it turned out that these apocalyptic looking photos were fake.

This morning Forbes commented on the production and circulation these photos.

“As the water level began to rise on the East coast, social media sites were flooded with fake photos and misinformation. When disaster strikes, make sure to bring your sandbags of skepticism to Twitter to avoid getting duped. “

For more see: http://www.forbes.com/sites/kashmirhill/2012/10/30/hurricane-sandy-and-the-flood-of-social-media-misinformation/?utm_campaign=forbestwittersf&utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social

What can we learn from this in terms of Social Media Trends?

People tend to believe the things that they encounter through social media because, much like the radio in the time of Welles, it has become a valued news source with a its personal, untainted quality.  This has perhaps been enhanced by the practice of media companies to look to the public to provide news content and coverage of events.  But perhaps, we should take the content we encounter on social media with a grain of salt because anyone can post anything they like and it is up to the interpreter to decide its validity and how it will be used in the creation of meaning around events. Make sure to check reputable sites next time in addition to checking Twitter or Facebook.

One comment

Leave a comment