Russia Vs Ukraine: The first of social media war?
Just when I believe the world can’t surprise me anymore. It has its moments. One of the major pressing issues is the war between Russia & Ukraine.
People across the world had the first wave of shock weeks ago with the attack. Nobody could imagine a war after almost 60 years later and worst of all, in the midst of the Pandemic.
Social media has been the connecting platform between us and the people fighting for their lives. We come across multiple videos and images today within seconds of destruction somewhere halfway across the world.
As life-changing as it is, How much do we trust social media? Is the battle just on the field or on the internet of today?
Media War Coverage
Today wars are fought not just on the battlefield but on social media.
From terrorist wars, to terrorist attacks, to revolutions our perceptions of major world events are strongly influenced by social media. Earlier days, it was selective images on newspapers, with advancement to the Facebook era in the 2000’s and now the Ukraine war is largely addressed as the first Tiktok war.
It comes with no surprise that we can share high-quality videos with access of a smartphone to voice our thoughts, gain sympathy and ask for help. We are no longer dependent on selective media resources for information.
Citizen journalism has extended well beyond TikTok. Ukrainians have been sharing photos, videos, and personal stories on Twitter, Instagram, Telegram, and other platforms. Civilians provided the view from the ground even before media organizations could get there, and they have done so in a highly effective way. Ukrainians and their political leaders have used social media not just to inform people about the developments on the ground, but also to relay their emotions and defiance.
These images are not just information about the situation, it plays a major role in understanding the human emotions at display. It also forces people around the world to take action. Social media influencers who have vast followers on TikTok and Instagram have taken it upon themselves to share their stories.
Media coverage from non-media sources
Valeria Shashenok, a Ukraine wanderer with 300,000 followers, has started to post dark humor photos and videos of her daily life under bombardment in Ukraine. Her videos though are of how she copes with war while she waits for the inevitable.
Even Ukrainian soldiers are using social media. Alex Hook, is one of the popular ones who posts videos of himself and a few fellow soldiers, getting prepped for war to his 4.3 million viewers. The Ukrainian army also has its own Twitter account that provides hourly updates on the war to more than 350,000 followers.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has you could say mastered the use of social media. He began flooding platforms with simple, impassioned and highly effective speeches, while also posting photos and videos of him and his government in the devastated streets of the capital, Kyiv, to deny all reports that had disinformation about his actions.
Misinformation vs Disinformation
In the earlier days, it was a highly possibility to have important information erased, deleted and overridden over true facts. Misinformation was high possibly when sources were limited to the public.
But with raging internet services, sympathy and social fights with hashtags such as #standwithukraine and #stopputin becoming viral, top brands and people all across the world have had to make choices to support the people of Ukraine. The fight from social media has made the war more powerful than the battlefield itself.
But I would still argue, social media leaves a large gap for disinformation at times like this. It is differentiate authentic news from fake.
I leave you with the trust that post reading this blog, each of my readers will take a minute longer to know they are only trusting verified or known sources before they begin a viral chain.
Until next time..
Signing off,
Supraja
