Clown Panic Fueled by Social Media
With the approach of Halloween in a few weeks, there has been a widespread clown panic taking over the nation. Originating from alleged sightings in South Carolina in August 2016, the phenomenon has spread throughout the United States and has even shown up overseas in the U.K.
What is fueling this mass hysteria? Social media. Videos of alleged clown sightings are surfacing on websites such as Facebook, Twitter, and Snapchat. In such large social networks, the information is constantly being retweeted and shared by millions of people who all take the information at face value without validation.
While the Web was originally created as an application for people to share information and has been praised for linking people around the globe with knowledge quickly and efficiently, the clown hysteria is an exemplary example of misinformation that can also occur. The root of the problem lies within the fact that people, especially younger users, typically do not cross-check the information they receive on social media. As a result, they accept the sightings at face value and spread the news to their friends and followers, who continue the pass on the misinformation to their respective social networks.
On the other hand, others are attempting to take advantage of the mass hysteria to gain popularity online. Pranksters are also posting videos online hoping to go viral and gain recognition online. Such acts only continue to propel the misinformation, where some view the prank as a funny act and others believe it to be a true prank.
At the end of the day, the lesson to be learned is that while the Internet is a great source of information, it is important to look at all articles skeptically.
https://mic.com/articles/156160/killer-clown-videos-are-taking-over-social-media-but-law-enforcement-isn-t-laughing#.FiNfIh92k