Remember the “telephone” game from elementary school? The teacher would tell a student on the front row a “secret,” and that student would pass the secret on, whispering it into the ear of the kid in the desk behind them, repeating until each person had heard and passed the secret all the way through the classroom. The last in line would then tell the class what the secret was. In every case, the message had been misheard, wrongly told, or changed along the way, turning the original into something different. The truth morphed as the message went through 30-some-odd children, and it showed us youngins you can’t always believe what you hear, and this was how rumors spread. Today, a much larger game of telephone, via the internet, is being played.
This is especially apparent in comments sections on social media, particularly pertaining to the political landscape. Or even in the “news” itself. Everything is funneled through filtered algorithms, biases, and, these days, even AI trickery, making the actual truth nearly impossible to pinpoint. For example, regarding the recent protests in L.A., there were two different basic stories: 1) These were successful peaceful protests, and 2) These were chaotic and destructive riots caused by the protesters themselves. A peek into that rabbit hole could lead to other strange places: i.e., the rioters were paid MAGA actors, sent to escalate the situation, or there were no riots at all. Deception is too easy, and so is believing something you already want to believe. Confirmation bias does not a fact make, yet someone will take a bit of info they scrolled past online, without even reading the story or doing any research, as fact — and pass that on to everyone they know. Every share, every retelling changing ever so slightly until we don’t know what is what. I wasn’t in L.A., so I can’t tell you with absolute certainty what happened. But plenty of people out there, from Memphis to Nowhere, USA, have come to their own conclusions based on what they’ve seen and heard in their echo chambers.
As a test, my boyfriend and I compared some of the news-adjacent info filling our separate social feeds, and we found a lot of contradictions. Stories in his feed supported the deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who was painted as nothing but a criminal, a gang member and human trafficker. Mine, however, showed a person wrongfully taken, and people working diligently and passionately to bring an innocent family man home. This is but one example of current events being skewed in one direction or another to sway the people. What you deduce depends, to some degree, on your previously held beliefs. Many lump all illegal immigrants into one category: criminals. And that is clearly not the case. Even now, Trump is backtracking on his deportation crackdown to exclude some service employees, like those working at hotels, farms, meatpacking plants, and restaurants. So the illegal immigrants who do dirty work, who “serve” us, can stay? But we were told they were all bad! Where is the logic?
In a nonpolitical example of how misinformation spreads, take this past weekend’s unsuccessful Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival in Manchester, Tennessee. The four-day fest was canceled on its second day due to rain and flooding in the venue’s campgrounds. I watched the drama unfold in a Facebook group, where reactions ranged from disappointment to full-blown anger. Some insisted this was Live Nation’s plan all along — to cancel after a full day of events so they could get an insurance payout. Others gave the organizers the benefit of the doubt, saying they had no other choice but to call it for everyone’s safety. People vehemently argued both sides. “I heard xyz!” “Well, I heard this and that!” In the end, none of us truly know the reasoning or motives, if any. Sorry to rain on your parades.
Speaking of parades, while the president’s big birthday bash went on last weekend — to the tune of an estimated $40 million in tax dollars — millions took to U.S. streets to protest against him. From the videos circling, the crowd at the Army’s 250th anniversary celebration looked more like one at Overton Park on a Sunday afternoon, surely not what Trump had hoped for. One clip showed a tank slowly screeching its way down the road, no cheers to be heard over the chalkboard-scratching squeal. It appeared as though someone needed to lead the defeated-looking Trump to bed for a nap. But, for the record, I wasn’t there.
In today’s world, with so much information control, conspiracy theories, and algorithms programmed to stir the pot, it’s more important than ever to do your own research, check sources, and do your best to discern truth from fiction. Don’t be a victim of the telephone game.
Maybe I’m suffering from political fatigue. Maybe many of you are, too. Now, with even more tumult stirring here and abroad, what are we supposed to be but exhausted? My boyfriend jokingly asked me last weekend, “So what are you wearing to World War III?” My response? “I’m probably just going to go lay down.”
