Timehop wanted to know if you remembered.
For those who don't know, Timehop is an app for iPhones/Androids that will show the user what they posted on Facebook on the same day/month but from a previous year. It is depicted with a cartoon dinosaur asking you if you recall posting the status/picture ("Memba dis?"). The dinosaur can also be depicted saying witty comments such as "statistically at least one person on Timehop will fart while reading this."
Unfortunately for Timehop, such a day as September 11th is not the most appropriate day to joke around. As highlighted on a Buzzfeed article, Timehop made the mistake of taking a day such as 9/11 and remarking it as a day "more awesome than the day we played Marco Polo in the grocery store."
Many people quickly took to Twitter and Facebook to voice their outrage over the app's poor choices.
Rather than begin a debate on social media and its role specifically in our nation's remembrance of September 11th, I'd like to shift to a broader view: How should companies that control how social media is perceived deal with events that are often times marked with panic or anxiety?
Recently, for example, Urban Outfitters released the sale of a Kent State University sweatshirt stained with fake blood. Though Urban Outfitters is not technically a form of social media, it is a brand that has enormous influence over teenagers and young adults (the main demographic of social media). This is not the first time Urban Outfitters has done something well past the borderline of risky ("Eat Less" campaign).
Should these companies be expected to exemplify discipline through their products? Or does the company have the right to advertise whatever it wants to regardless of the criticism?
No matter what we believe in, we should all make more of an effort on our own to reflect on the tragedies and misfortunes that have occurred in our nation as well as in other countries. Perhaps social media should use its influence to help us remember... Perhaps not... What do you think?
You have posed many interesting questions here, and I'd like to share my opinions in my answers to them. I believe the use of social media as a place to mourn and remember tragic events in a group atmosphere is perfectly acceptable, as doing just that is one of the key purposes of social media. However, when companies cross the line, as I agree that they did in every example you mentioned, it becomes an issue, as many people believe their actions to be rude and not carefully thought out. These companies may be taking such risky actions to draw attention to themselves and attract new customers, but they are turning themselves utterly repulsive in the process. Social media reaches many people around the world, so companies must be more careful in their usage of it so as to avoid offending groups of people both large and small.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Casey. It seems like these days many companies are crossing the line. They have to remember that many of their consumers were touched by these tragic events.
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