Terrorism - Is social media/the internet making it worse?

mahamageehad · 17-11-2015 11:08PM #1

A friendly match between Germany and Netherlands was cancelled and evacuated a few hours ago due to bomb threats. If you were following the whole thing on Twitter you'd have learned that an ambulance filled with explosives was outside the stadium as well as a device inside and another bomb at the train station. BBC and a few others even reported on these claims.

Turns out none of those were actually true though.....

So, without getting into the whole ethics and religion part of the terrorism debate, is social media/the internet making it worse? Or at least making it seem a bigger threat for people than it actually is?

With the latest attacks in Paris, people seem to have lost all perspective on the level of the threat, talking about cancelling trips and closing borders and barricading themselves into the house and stuff. I can't even count how many references to World War 3 I've seen over the last few days!

Before I get accused of it, I'm not saying we shouldn't show support and empathy to the people of France. What happened there was horrible and disgusting and an eye-opener for many in Europe. But even in the worst violence that happened on French soil since WW2, in the worst hit venue (the concert), there was a 94% chance of survival. More people died on Irish roads last year than were killed in Paris but people haven't abandoned their cars in fear. It's the same when an airplane crashes- it freaks a lot of people out and they refuse to fly, despite the fact that they're more likely to be killed driving to the airport!

Tl;dr - Is social media and sensationalist reporting (in conjunction with mé féin attitudes) making the whole terrorism thing seem worse than it is? Or should I be at home quaking in my boots?

jimmycrackcorm · 17-11-2015 11:11PM

Rte terrified me when I was young reporting news on bombings and shootings in the north. Blame Rte.

The Backwards Man · 17-11-2015 11:11PM

Social media is the modern equivalent of the man down the pub that knows everything without ever leaving the pub

NIMAN · 17-11-2015 11:13PM

Totally agree.
Only takes a numpty on the net to start a rumour and it'll be on CNN and the BBC a few minutes later as there is little quality in 24hr rolling news.

the evasion_kid · 17-11-2015 11:20PM

It's ramping up the fear...

Sh1tbag OToole · 17-11-2015 11:21PM

NIMAN wrote: »

Totally agree.
Only takes a numpty on the net to start a rumour and it'll be on CNN and the BBC a few minutes later as there is little quality in 24hr rolling news.

Journalism is purely a desk job for many now. It just involves waiting for something interesting to appear on an meaisín tuitóir while drinking endless starbucks and then publish it

mahamageehad · 17-11-2015 11:24PM

The Backwards Man wrote: »

Social media is the modern equivalent of the man down the pub that knows everything without ever leaving the pub

Yeah except everyone knew to take whatever he said with a pinch (or shovel) of salt whereas people seem to take stuff online as legit. The daily mail and the like are also to blame for that I think.

NIMAN wrote: »

Totally agree.
Only takes a numpty on the net to start a rumour and it'll be on CNN and the BBC a few minutes later as there is little quality in 24hr rolling news.

That's the worrying part... Twitter is still tripping over itself with "BOMBS!!!" despite the fact that German authorities have confirmed nothing was found!

I'd love some kind of verified tag on Twitter or Facebook that marks out the legit stories in the scare mongering and crap.

Junkyard Tom · 17-11-2015 11:28PM

Humans can't be infected with a computer virus so no.

fleet_admiral · 17-11-2015 11:33PM

'Good evening and welcome to the 6 one news, here is what we ant you to believe'

mahamageehad · 17-11-2015 11:44PM

In the news that won't be reported (much if at all), a bomb at roughly the same time killed over 30 in Nigeria.

http://news.yahoo.com/bomb-blast-yola-ne-nigeria-red-cross-resident-211136954.html

nullzero · 17-11-2015 11:48PM

Something like this was bound to happen so soon after a terrorist attack. It was just a case of where. Terrorism has always made people edgy, that's why it's called terrorism, social media may add another layer of hysteria to it but even without it people would be seeing everything through the lens of terrorist inspired paranoia. In short, social media is an extension of human behavior not really an influencer of it.

sonny.knowles · 17-11-2015 11:52PM

mahamageehad wrote: »

Yeah except everyone knew to take whatever he said with a pinch (or shovel) of salt whereas people seem to take stuff online as legit. The daily mail and the like are also to blame for that I think.

That's the worrying part... Twitter is still tripping over itself with "BOMBS!!!" despite the fact that German authorities have confirmed nothing was found!

I'd love some kind of verified tag on Twitter or Facebook that marks out the legit stories in the scare mongering and crap.

Verified by who though? Twitter or Facebook? A government spokesperson or legitimate news provider? An 'eye witness'?

sonny.knowles · 17-11-2015 11:53PM

Junkyard Tom wrote: »

Humans can't be infected with a computer virus so no.

That's what the computers want you to believe. Next they'll be saying that computers can't take a dump.

Harry Palmr · 17-11-2015 11:54PM

Ignore everything until its confirmed and even then wait for the second source.

The relentless nature of the modern media tsunami means there is plenty of time to keep making the same handful of points over and over and over again. Its like being punched around the ring after a while.

People who do not spend all day soaking it up are probably a bit happier and less paranoid.

RDM_83 again · 18-11-2015 12:03AM

nullzero wrote: »

Something like this was bound to happen so soon after a terrorist attack. It was just a case of where. Terrorism has always made people edgy, that's why it's called terrorism, social media may add another layer of hysteria to it but even without it people would be seeing everything through the lens of terrorist inspired paranoia. In short, social media is an extension of human behavior not really an influencer of it.

I would say its also to do with the fact for the Irish/British generally we have experience with a different sort of "Terrorism".
The entire IRA bombing campaign in mainland Britain killed 180 people and there was a lot of attacks over decades, a bomb scare would in general not involve a device that was going to cause casualties.
Yes there was far too many dead deliberately and accidental atrocities like Omagh but even myself having mainly grown up post 94 and spent most of my adult life in the Republic , I've seen the aftermath of at least 3 bombs, one of which was large, and been driven past (before it was discovered) a viable (but not armed) dissident car bomb.
Even stuff relating to the middle east has changed, there was plenty of hijackings that ended peacefully back in the 70's etc

timthumbni · 18-11-2015 12:09AM

nullzero wrote: »

Something like this was bound to happen so soon after a terrorist attack. It was just a case of where. Terrorism has always made people edgy, that's why it's called terrorism, social media may add another layer of hysteria to it but even without it people would be seeing everything through the lens of terrorist inspired paranoia. In short, social media is an extension of human behavior not really an influencer of it.

Very good post. I was brought up in Northern Ireland. Random bombs, shootings could leave anyone on edge. Social media has made things much more fluid now of course but that's the way things are. Social media can sometimes also calm situations quicker compared to my day too.

It's easy from a distance sometimes to suggest some people are acting irrationally. Perhaps in fact those people are acting very rationally. I was in situations during the Northern Ireland troubles that most people from the rest of the UK or the Republic would consider completely out of their comfort zone. My school was right beside an ruc station that the ira were constantly attacking or leaving hoax bombs. That's what terrorism is.

18-11-2015 12:10AM

i think the media is definitely making in worse in terms of fear however I also think that given the circumstances it is appropriate. I empathise with everyone who dies at the feet of radical terrorists but I must say that when this kind of thing hits the West it certainly makes it more real and hard to not think about.

Samaris · 18-11-2015 12:13AM

Bah, I really wish the news wouldn't take freaking -Twitter- as a source!

Journalism, we mourn your loss.

The_Valeyard · 18-11-2015 12:14AM

sonny.knowles wrote: »

That's what the computers want you to believe. Next they'll be saying that computers can't take a dump.

Yep. They defo do that. Blue Screen Of Death.

The Randy Riverbeast · 18-11-2015 01:05AM

Theres a race to have the latest news first, not taking the time to wait for something to be confirmed. Have a twitter account or a youtube video where you talk about the truth "they" don't want you to know about and you'll have the idiots lapping it up.

Think it's in the US where you're more likely to get hit by lightning than die in a terrorist attack.

XR3i · 18-11-2015 01:07AM

mahamageehad wrote: »

A friendly match between Germany and Netherlands was cancelled and evacuated a few hours ago due to bomb threats. If you were following the whole thing on Twitter you'd have learned that an ambulance filled with explosives was outside the stadium as well as a device inside and another bomb at the train station. BBC and a few others even reported on these claims.

Turns out none of those were actually true though.....

So, without getting into the whole ethics and religion part of the terrorism debate, is social media/the internet making it worse? Or at least making it seem a bigger threat for people than it actually is?

With the latest attacks in Paris, people seem to have lost all perspective on the level of the threat, talking about cancelling trips and closing borders and barricading themselves into the house and stuff. I can't even count how many references to World War 3 I've seen over the last few days!

Before I get accused of it, I'm not saying we shouldn't show support and empathy to the people of France. What happened there was horrible and disgusting and an eye-opener for many in Europe. But even in the worst violence that happened on French soil since WW2, in the worst hit venue (the concert), there was a 94% chance of survival. More people died on Irish roads last year than were killed in Paris but people haven't abandoned their cars in fear. It's the same when an airplane crashes- it freaks a lot of people out and they refuse to fly, despite the fact that they're more likely to be killed driving to the airport!

Tl;dr - Is social media and sensationalist reporting (in conjunction with mé féin attitudes) making the whole terrorism thing seem worse than it is? Or should I be at home quaking in my boots?

have u any skin in the game yourself,

it's easy to be philosophical if u haven't

petrolcan · 18-11-2015 09:07AM

Long gone are the times when you had to leave the house, find a phone box (and 20p) to create a bomb scare. Now a tweet will suffice.

nullzero · 18-11-2015 10:11AM

RDM_83 again wrote: »

I would say its also to do with the fact for the Irish/British generally we have experience with a different sort of "Terrorism".
The entire IRA bombing campaign in mainland Britain killed 180 people and there was a lot of attacks over decades, a bomb scare would in general not involve a device that was going to cause casualties.
Yes there was far too many dead deliberately and accidental atrocities like Omagh but even myself having mainly grown up post 94 and spent most of my adult life in the Republic , I've seen the aftermath of at least 3 bombs, one of which was large, and been driven past (before it was discovered) a viable (but not armed) dissident car bomb.
Even stuff relating to the middle east has changed, there was plenty of hijackings that ended peacefully back in the 70's etc

In relation to your last point, the big difference between IS and previous Islamic terrorist groups is the ideological difference. IS ate recognized as being an apocalypse cult, they believe the world is going to end with a few decades and they are responsible for having a worldwide caliphate in place before that happens.

endacl · 18-11-2015 12:50PM

mahamageehad wrote: »

the whole terrorism thing

The bit in bold. It makes my teeth itch. Can we grow out of it soon please?

The whole *insert topic* thing. Unless you refer specifically to an aspect of the subject under discussion, a discussion of the totality of the subject is implied.

Nothing to do with the thread. It's just that it makes people sound stupid. When everybody sounds stupid its harder to spot the actual stupid people. It appears to be the new 'literally'.

Cease. Also desist.

keithclancy · 18-11-2015 02:00PM

The new trend on Facebook is people shaming people for saying anything about the Paris Attacks as they should be sorry for all things that happen everywhere at all times..

E.G.

Person A: Feel sorry for the people dead in the Bataclan
Person B: You are a c*nt .. what about people that died in Beirut, you disgust me.

Social Media be crazy

Azalea · 18-11-2015 09:24PM

XR3i wrote: »

have u any skin in the game yourself,

it's easy to be philosophical if u haven't

Where's the being philosophical?

I would think so definitely OP - social media makes it a lot easier to fearmonger than before social media.

Corpus Twisty · 18-11-2015 09:45PM

Is it not doing the rounds that Anonymous hacked the paris network and gave the terrorists details to the Gendarmerie? Also fecked up a lot of their Twitter/vid feeds??

Wouldn't be 100% on that, but I was told so this evening. If true, or even a bit true - there's the internet making it better.

The Randy Riverbeast · 19-11-2015 01:08AM

Corpus Twisty wrote: »

Is it not doing the rounds that Anonymous hacked the paris network and gave the terrorists details to the Gendarmerie? Also fecked up a lot of their Twitter/vid feeds??

Wouldn't be 100% on that, but I was told so this evening. If true, or even a bit true - there's the internet making it better.

The 72 virgins strike back.

gormdubhgorm · 19-11-2015 01:59AM

endacl wrote: »

The bit in bold. It makes my teeth itch. Can we grow out of it soon please?

The whole *insert topic* thing. Unless you refer specifically to an aspect of the subject under discussion, a discussion of the totality of the subject is implied.

Nothing to do with the thread. It's just that it makes people sound stupid. When everybody sounds stupid its harder to spot the actual stupid people. It appears to be the new 'literally'.

Cease. Also desist.

I think "thing" is an Americanism blame Nickoldeoan!

TheLastMohican · 19-11-2015 02:07AM

"Small earthquake in Southern Peru ......... no injuries/damage", doesn't grab peoples' imagination.

gormdubhgorm · 19-11-2015 02:09AM

keithclancy wrote: »

The new trend on Facebook is people shaming people for saying anything about the Paris Attacks as they should be sorry for all things that happen everywhere at all times..

E.G.

Person A: Feel sorry for the people dead in the Bataclan
Person B: You are a c*nt .. what about people that died in Beirut, you disgust me.

Social Media be crazy

In fairness I think the point the person's B's are making are valid ones. People ignore the non-trendy atrocities Africa/Asia/Russia v Chechnya etc. I suppose in fairness to person A they are only reacting to what happens in the mainstream media. Is person B a hipster in this regard? I don't know.
But if your going to start changing your profile pic to the French flag - on the basis of equality you should be putting up flags of countries each week for the latest one!

I think the Internet is making terrorism worse because on the basis of the social conformity bias, people are being coerced into what to think by the majority.

Terrorism - Is social media/the internet making it worse?

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