Kanye West Death Hoax
Someone erroneously reported that Kanye West had been killed in a car crash yesterday on Twitter. “RIP Kanye West” is still trending on micro blogging social media site today. We can report that the rapper is ok, and has been online on his blog posting al day (does Kanye do his own blogging?). This latest ‘hoax story’ led to millions searching for Kanye death on Google in the USA last night and will probably carry on for a while as the rest of the world catches up.
This latest caper in a week were Twitter and other social media outlets such as Facebook have been instrumental in driving the news agenda, provoking a furious backlash against Daily Mail Columnist, Jan Moir, who’s column last Friday on the death of Boyzone star Stephen Gately, and the way in which it brought to light the Carter-Ruck injunction shows that information now moves at the speed of quick around the globe in a matter of hours.
Many news commentators this week have speculated that the ability of social media to distribute information has led to a culture of online bullying, however like most media, it depends on who’s driving the agenda. We would argue that these social media sites have led to the ability of the masses to respond and make their voices heard in a quicker more coherent fashion.
The furor over the Carter-Ruck injunction led to British citizens being made aware of so called ’super injunctions’ whereby lawyers who have obtained injunctions against the reporting of court proceedings, can also obtain another injunction that prevents the injunction from being reported, thus court proceedings on affairs such as the one concerning the dumping of toxic waste by large corporations go un-reported and un-noticed by the world at large and it’s citizens.
One thing the twitters and searchers in the Kanye West death hoax have taught us though, is that people aren’t just willing to be spoonfed their information. They seek confirmation of the news, so don’t think, those of you would believe the internet is inhabited by mindless sheep, that this is so. Traditional media, government and corporations need to understand the power of social media, however what must be said is that the ‘flash’ moral outcry that occurs in the 24-48 hours after a major story breaks, needs, at least in the case of global concerns or campaigns, to be converted into long term commitments for change.