Seizing Power: Social Media and Current Events
If anyone still has any doubt about the power of social media, I would like to respectfully submit three exhibits.
Exhibit A: Patrick Leahy.
Exhibit B: Lamar Smith.
Exhibit C: Nancy Brinker.
Or, to use the words you’ll recognize faster: PIPA, SOPA, and Komen.
In the last three weeks, all three people’s bad ideas caught the attention of the world, thanks largely to social media. Public opinion was galvanized so strongly and so rapidly that each of these plans were renounced.
A 180 in 24 hours. Would this have been possible 10 years ago, or even last year? Finally, I think we can all agree that the revolution has happened.
Now it’s time for the next question, though. What happens if it doesn’t work right?
Because it probably won’t. Not always. IÂ happen to believe quite strongly that all three of the above issues reached the right conclusion. What happens, though, when an issue is easy to put into snappy, action-oriented terms – but terms that are misleading? Terms that make it easy to make the wrong choice?
What will happen when public opinion gets it wrong?
I’ll provide one very recent place where traditional media and social media both got it wrong. Joe Paterno. It has already happened but the other downside is the lack of credibility of social media. Discuss.