Hashtag Science is Really Just A Marketing Campaign
#PopularScienceSucks
It did not take a pandemic to turn lots of non-science into pop-science marketing campaigns, but never let a good crisis go to waste. Right? Hmmm… perhaps that required a hashtag, too.
If it has a hashtag, it most likely isn’t science.
Whether you are a supporter of #flattenthecurve or #herdimmunity really doesn’t matter. #socialdistance, #wearamask, #openamerica, or #justanotherflu — doesn’t matter. These are all just buzzwords with pound signs… I mean hashtags. Wasn’t that just a number sign once?
Buzzwords are over simplifications of popular ideas that are themselves over simplifications of general theory that are over simplifications of speculative science that are simplifications of complex science that rarely have any hard core scientific evidence or corroborating test results with statistical significance. If they did — no one would buy it… too complex and nerdy.
All of these things gain popularity until they fail miserably to explain things… though only after they are agonizingly defended by those who invested (or profited) from them in the first place. Given how complex the actual science at the very root of them actually is… excuses are easy. This is bolstered by the fact that most of this “science” comes from good intentions and a longing for safety and security. Those terms mean different things to different people.
Real science rarely gets a viral hashtag. Pop-science tends to get many. Remember when it was only Five Feet Apart? Did that have a hashtag?
Real science is rarely integrated into TV commercials. Pop-science seems to inspire them in a matter of days. It also gets billboards. And of course lately, it inspires Twitter fights and Facebook posts.
Real science rarely needs a marketing campaign.
Marketing campaigns are typically only required when there is some uncertainty. The goal, of course, is to convince people that your product … well in this case idea… is the better one. Of course, if there wasn’t any uncertainty, no one would waste there time. Further complicating things, marketing rarely proves something is better… only that it is more popular. Hashtags more than double down on that concept. Call it digital pier pressure.
So #believethis … not because it is real… or right… accurate … better … or provable. #believethis because it is popular… because all your friends do. Sounds like real science to me! Right?
Believe what you want, you are certainly entitled. But don’t mistake popular hashtags for real science. Those who make that mistake simply set themselves up for disappointment. Popular science rarely lasts but typically just long enough to do some real harm. Not because it is totally wrong — but because it is watered down, over simplified, but ultimately inaccurate. Unfortunately, that is enough to turn most science bad.
Thanks for reading. Stay safe. More importantly, stay informed.
