2020 has been a year. A year filled with tragedy, fear, loss and time that seems to go on forever. Between our bushfires that took over our country and a virus that is taking away our loved ones, it is no surprise that we want this year over with.
But just as I learned that buying a 2020 planner was a mistake, I also learned that these past few months will carry learnings that we will take with us for years to come.
(Horneker 2020)
Yes, I do mean the lessons around spending time with family, and taking things slow, and about learning how to make the perfect banana bread, but also about something a little bit more academic: crowdsourcing.
What is crowdsourcing you may ask?
Well, crowdsourcing is “using the power of the Internet and social media to "virtually" harness the power of individuals and bring them together in support of a disaster” (Riccardi 2016, p. 123). You have probably seen it in one of its many forms, or maybe even contributed to it. It is one of the silver linings to social media that we sometimes forget about.
When the bushfires tore through our country earlier this year, it took a lot from us. But, as us Aussies do, we banded together and helped our fellow Australians. As I am sure you would have encountered, the online response and support over social media was huge. By sharing images and videos of the bushfires tearing through homes, or the cute, and yet terrifying images of cute Australian animals, or even the orange sky that fell over our country, these posts contributed to a crowdsource bigger than one I had seen.
Through our online community and network, we were able to help.
Sokolov (2017) explained that the shock encountered with these images spoke “louder than any journalist can”.
These images and videos were spread just like the fires did – fast and with a huge impact. They were shared by people like you and me, by celebrities, politicians, influencers and everyone in-between. The social media response was a major contributor to millions of dollars being donated to help those affected.
However, just like most ideas, there is a downfall. The danger with crowdsourcing is the spread of misinformation.
You may have seen this image spread around earlier this year. As Fuller (2020) explains, this image was posted with the assumption it was a real-life image from NASA, when in fact it was just a 3D visualisation.
(Rihanna 2020)
Misinformation is common during crowdsourcing, but it is also a very dangerous element. We can still see it today with the COVID-19 crisis and Donald Trump. Each day we are presented with a new statement from Trump, where we question whether it is fact or fiction.
In a time of crisis, we are reliant on the news and social media to get our information, and unfortunately, when emotions are high, we are less likely to challenge information (especially one that should be a credible source such as a President), and just accept it.
As we know, this is a dangerous and yet very real issue we face every day through this COVID-19 crisis. Especially when Donald Trump is President. I mean, there is an actual newspaper article written in The Atlantic that highlights all the lies Trump has told throughout this pandemic – “An unfinished compendium of Trump’s overwhelming dishonesty during a national emergency” (Paz 2020). It is terrifying in its own right.
However, at the end of the day, although we must be aware of the misinformation crowdsourcing brings, we must also remember the good it brings too. By banding together, we were able to come together through the bushfires, and I have no doubt we won’t be able to get through this crisis as well.
References
Fuller, P 2020, The truth behind the 'misleading' fire maps that have gone viral during Australia's bushfire crisis, ABC News, viewed 25 April 2020, <https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-01-08/misleading-fire-maps-go-viral-during-australian-bushfire-crisis/11850948>.
Horneker, J 2020, Why did I even buy a 2020 planner? 1 April, viewed 28 April 2020, <https://twitter.com/hornekerjustin/status/1245137386570424324>.
Paz, C 2020, All the President’s Lies About the Coronavirus, The Atlantic, viewed 27 April 2020, <https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2020/04/trumps-lies-about-coronavirus/608647/>.
Riccardi, M 2016, ‘The power of crowdsourcing in disaster response operations’, International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, vol. 20, no. 1, pp.123-128.
Rihanna 2020, 3D visualisation image, 7 January, viewed 28 April 2020, <https://twitter.com/rihanna/status/1214227610911170561?lang=en>.
Sokolov, M 2020, Social media as a force for good: the case of Australian bushfires, The Drum, viewed 25 April 2020, <https://www.thedrum.com/opinion/2020/02/17/social-media-force-good-the-case-australian-bushfires>.