How Social Media Often Gets It Wrong
Remember the 2023 Montgomery riverboat brawl?
Not only did it make national and international headlines, but it also supplied social media content creators with fresh material to generate traffic.
This article highlights the racial discussions that resulted from the incident. It also mentions the creation of memes, parody videos, and merchandise, e.g., “Lift Every Chair and Swing” T-shirts.
That’s how some people use social media. Generally speaking, it’s often harmless and sometimes entertaining.
Feeding the Public Bad Information
When creators rush to publish content to gain maximum views while a story is still hot, verification of details rarely happens.
This was the case with the brawl
Two graphics were featured in a seemingly endless sea of posts – neither was correct.
And there’s the rub
Both graphics are wrong in multiple ways.
— Nathaniel Alexander did not invent/design the first folding chair.
— The folding chairs shown are not the chair that Mr. Alexander patented.
— To the best of anyone’s knowledge, there are no surviving images of Mr. Alexander.
Who Are These Men?
Many of you already know the answers, but for the benefit of those who don’t.
This image shows Lewis Latimer, the inventor of the long-lasting carbon filament for incandescent lightbulbs. A feat Thomas Edison didn’t achieve.
Note the warning added to this image.
This image is Jan Ernst Matzeliger, the inventor of the first shoe lasting machine.
(NOTE: The National Inventors Hall of Fame has been added to our K-12 Learning Resources.)
BONUS: Use the links in our History-Making Women to learn about the misidentification of Thomas Jennings, the father of teacher and activist Elizabeth Jennings.
Because the two graphics were circulating simultaneously, observant viewers, who weren’t clear on the facts, became curious about the conflicting images and researched to discover the truth. Others simply didn’t notice.
It’s always a best practice to get multiple sources, even when your first source is a usually reliable one.
There were many corrections in the comments of these posts (some from this writer), but not everyone reads social media comments.
How Did So Many Get It So Wrong?
There’s no way to know when these images were created, but it was prior to the melee. This made them easy to access and use without verification.
There are many social media creators who are informative and entertaining. Their focus is on sharing their passion about their respective fields. They make every effort to get it right.
The posters using the erroneous images aren’t focusing on accuracy. They’re far more interested in clicks and revenue than educating the public (or themselves).
Garbage in—garbage out.
All legacy news outlets occasionally get it wrong . Social media often gets it wrong.
