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Sunday’s New York Times Magazine features an article detailing how a lie about a sensitive story became confirmed “fact” in the news media thanks to a viral social-media journey launched on the Reddit site. That story involved a false report about one of the alleged Boston marathon bombers (who turned out not to be one of the alleged Boston marathon bombers).
Meanwhile another lie about a controversial story continued to gain currency Sunday on social-media sites about an incident in New Haven. This one involved the bloodying of a white technician at New Haven Power Sports—possibly at the hands of some black male teenagers. Again, Reddit is one major feed of that lie.
It began with circulation of a New Haven Independent photo of the incident, which took place the Friday before last. Police said they aren’t sure that the injuries occurred because of an attack — but some evidence strongly points to that conclusion. (Sgt. Robert Lawlor Jr., head of the New Haven police robbery and burglary unit, said Sunday that he’s still waiting for results of forensic evidence before he can make a determination.)
What none of the evidence points to is the notion that the attack had anything to do with the Florida Trayvon Martin case. Not a single shred.
That didn’t stop a Reddit thread from proclaiming “Man beaten in New Haven, CT as justice for Treyvon” [sic] besides the Independent photo — and from that meme to crop up on sites like Facebook.
Will the invisible hand of the “wisdom of the crowd” source this lie out of commission? Or will it bring it greater currency?
That’s what’s at stake in the promising but also potentially dangerous new world of democratized social-media fact-sharing, the Times article argues. The fate of this thread will offer a case study.