Doctored photographs of Hurricane Sandy circulated on social media websites Monday. One of the most widely circulated images was of a dark, Halloween-esque, storm cloud encroaching on the Statue of Liberty. Another image showed massive waves crashing into the Statue of Libertyy — a photograph that was actually a still from the film “The Day After Tomorrow.”
While it would be unethical for a news organization to publish these photographs without some sort of disclaimer, the public is not held to those same ethical standards.
Many Facebook and Twitter users posted fake Hurricane Sandy photographs without any sort of indication that the photographs were fake. As a consequence, some users came away thinking those images were real.
Most users, though, realized the images were photoshopped. They criticized posters for sharing images that were false, arguing that not everyone on Facebook and Twitter is photoshop savvy and might be misled by those images.
While those images might have misled some, it was reassuring to see people step up to the plate and identify those images as false. It was almost like users were playing a fact-checking game similar to the ones that went on during the vice presidential and presidential debates.
Monday’s situation serves as another reminder of just how unique social media is. Social media is an evolving process. Websites such as Facebook and Twitter spread information quickly, but at the same time allow users to verify whether not that information is correct.
However, why people would want to doctor images of Monday’s hurricane is still unclear. The storm was destructive enough. There are plenty of scenes of flooded highways and damaged buildings. It was probably not necessary for people to amplify a storm that had already caused so much despair.
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