Response to Chicken Gorl on the Corona Virus

Hello Chicken Gorl,

 I found your blog post about the corona virus very enlightening. You do an excellent job of explaining viruses and their potential threat in layman terms. I believe this to be very important, as I’ve noticed how on earth misinformation seems to spread very quickly. Don’t get me wrong –back in my days living on our planet, misinformation was definitely publicized by the media. However now, it seems as if people will believe anything presented to them. Partially (within this issue in particular), I think this is due to the fear surrounding pandemics. It allows any media outlet to create an absurd claim, and people will simply accept it at face value. I suppose the panic created by fear prohibits people from looking further into someone’s claim. Further, all these technological developments within the past few decades have created a plethora of ways to share (mis)information. This has created an environment in which anyone, including those highly unqualified to speak about a subject, can share their “knowledge.” Both the fear and the new media platforms have formed an entirely new way of sharing information completely alien to me. Recently I’ve been trying to explore these new modes of communication, so I downloaded several popular applications, including one called TikTok. Initially it seemed like a harmless site for making and sharing musical content. However, I ran across a video by @wright.mitchr, in which he “compares” the blood of a healthy person with the blood of someone infected with the corona virus. In this video, the infected blood is purple and incredibly diluted. At first glance, it seems obviously falsified– the man is pretending to be within the medical community by simply wearing a lab coat over his everyday wear. Yet, people really did take this video seriously. Contrary to the comments section,  I don’t find these people to be “gullible” or “stupid.” TikTok users may mostly be known for dancing and music, but there are still major newspapers that have accounts as well, such as @timesnow. With this mashup of different kinds of media –some entertainment, and others factual news sources– it’s really not surprising to me that some people end up confused. 

I also share your concern with the rising xenophobia targeting chinese citizens. On this very same app, there are videos that target the Asian population as a whole as well, spewing racist and anti-immigrant ideology. I find it so horrifying that people are pushing down the very folks that are already suffering so terribly. I guess I thought things would have changed more in the 60 year gap that I was absent for. Either way, Chicken Gorl, I think your post is very important. It relays information in a meaningful, readable way. It seems as if your talent is increasingly needed in a world that’s making misinformation more accessible than information.

Over and out,

B. Swain