One of the problems with the internet is that it offers people an anonymous forum. Of course, 
this can be a good thing, but it also fosters lots of false information floating around cyberspace, not to mention the horrid examples of cyber-bullying that we've seen in the news lately.
It all became quite clear to me when the whole "whale on the beach" issue occurred earlier this month. I frequently checked out the "comments" sections of the various online newspaper postings with the story and it was shocking how many people posted erroneous information and made it sound as though they knew what they were talking about. Not to mention the venomous things that were said about the very people who were trying to help. Here's what I think the problem is: In a normal forum about
any issue, there are usually experts available to refute untruths, or at the very least to present the truth. On the internet that doesn't exist. In that case, there was no one to explain why the whale was unable to be returned to the deep water, or why it was so difficult to euthenize it, or why it was all taking so long. Had most people been able to speak to those in charge and learn the truth, they would have understood and been satisfied. But with no one to set them straight, each post built on the last and suddenly it was like a game of telephone, with people able to declare that they had "read somewhere" that this and that was happening.
I'm a big believer in freedom of speech but to some extent those things depend on intelligent people making informed decisions, not mob mentality. I'm not sure what the solution to cyber-falsehoods is, but I do know it can be scary. As someone who was at the beach every day talking to the experts and learning about the complications involved in dealing with a huge and complex issue like a whale beaching itself, I know that everything was done that could have been. Perhaps there were mistakes made, but they were honest mistakes and no one was incompetent. But how do you get that message across to people?
This is a new world, cyberspace, and like any new territory it needs to be somewhat "conquered", just like the wild and dangerous west was in the 1800s. It will be interesting to see what is done in the next twenty years to accomplish that~
this can be a good thing, but it also fosters lots of false information floating around cyberspace, not to mention the horrid examples of cyber-bullying that we've seen in the news lately.It all became quite clear to me when the whole "whale on the beach" issue occurred earlier this month. I frequently checked out the "comments" sections of the various online newspaper postings with the story and it was shocking how many people posted erroneous information and made it sound as though they knew what they were talking about. Not to mention the venomous things that were said about the very people who were trying to help. Here's what I think the problem is: In a normal forum about
any issue, there are usually experts available to refute untruths, or at the very least to present the truth. On the internet that doesn't exist. In that case, there was no one to explain why the whale was unable to be returned to the deep water, or why it was so difficult to euthenize it, or why it was all taking so long. Had most people been able to speak to those in charge and learn the truth, they would have understood and been satisfied. But with no one to set them straight, each post built on the last and suddenly it was like a game of telephone, with people able to declare that they had "read somewhere" that this and that was happening.I'm a big believer in freedom of speech but to some extent those things depend on intelligent people making informed decisions, not mob mentality. I'm not sure what the solution to cyber-falsehoods is, but I do know it can be scary. As someone who was at the beach every day talking to the experts and learning about the complications involved in dealing with a huge and complex issue like a whale beaching itself, I know that everything was done that could have been. Perhaps there were mistakes made, but they were honest mistakes and no one was incompetent. But how do you get that message across to people?
This is a new world, cyberspace, and like any new territory it needs to be somewhat "conquered", just like the wild and dangerous west was in the 1800s. It will be interesting to see what is done in the next twenty years to accomplish that~
2 comments:
EXcellent...you're right on the money!
RIR
Let the truth be said.
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