WE HEARD IT THROUGH THE GRAPEVINE!
(…it went viral on Social Media…so it has to be true…right?)

The recent prank hacking into the AP wire service Twitter account to post a faux news item about a White House bombing, and injuring of the President, caused a viral surge throughout the global Social Media tribes, not to mention momentary panic among several stock markets.

This episode is a good example of how the internet’s social media technologies, such as You tube, Face Book, Twitter, and others, appear to have created a highly gullible global community of “techno-zombies”, ready to  accept anything appearing there as “reality”, particularly if it is “viral”.  Their mantra to measure the credibility of such items being:    “We heard it on the grapevine!…it went viral on Social Media…so it must be true…right?”

A fecund situation for anarchic-minded pranksters with hacking skills, delighted to have such a gullible global herd of sheep at their disposal, whose critical thinking faculties have apparently diminished to nearly zero, and, which can be so easily manipulated from the anonymous comfort of whatever computer hidy-holes they may occupy.

Of more sinister import, however, is how this kind of event demonstrates the ease with which these wonderful new technologies can be destructively applied to deceive, distort, dis-inform, mis-inform, and otherwise create false “realities” for particular political, sectarian, or even economic interest purposes.

In short, the flood of useless and manufactured info-garbage internet users have to swim through these days has reached such proportions…they need to cover themselves with the equivalent of some kind of digital “shark repellent”…just to survive such swimming. It may even come to pass that the entire internet structure will mandate some kind of warning label on anything appearing on it…anywhere, and in whatever format. Warning labels saying: “Warning! This content may severely affect your ability to differentiate between “fantasy” and “reality”. Proceed at your own risk.”… or words to that effect.

Welcome to this brave new world of ours!

CENTURION