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'Five minutes of silence for Haiti' goes viral on Facebook... and fails on so many levels
Yes, it's as ambiguous as you think it is. 9pm when? Where? What DAY?! Am I meant to observe the five minutes of silence at 9pm in whatever timezone I might be? What if this thing spreads really slowly and people start holding five minutes of respectful silence next week... or next month?
Worst-case scenario, 9pm's already passed you by and you've missed your chance to show your condolences. I think, if you're on the US west coast, you can still do it. Or if you're in Hawaii.
If you're wondering, 'Facebook silence' means you can't update your status or comment on any photos for five minutes.
In fact, you can just step away from your computer for five minutes.
Because somehow that's going to save lives in Haiti.
WHO ARE YOU KIDDING YOU WINDOW-LICKING, BACKWARDS, ASS-THUMPING APES?
Go and donate some damn money!
Comments
25
Subscribe to commentsHollowYoshiJan 18th 2010 10:46PM
THIS IS WHY WE CAN'T HAVE NICE THINGS
Glenn TobeyJan 18th 2010 11:05PM
You sir, are the proud winner of 1000 Nigerian naira, for the best comment evar.
Sebastian AnthonyJan 18th 2010 11:06PM
I wasn't sure if he was actually funny, or if it's just 4am and I've lost all grip of reality...
Let's go with a bit of A and a bit of B...
kojo87Jan 18th 2010 11:00PM
looking at Haiti on Google Earth is what prompted me to donate $10. that is some crazy stuff.
AnthonyJan 18th 2010 11:11PM
Am I wrong, or is the "online" reaction to this unfortunate event unlike any before? I don't know all the details about the devastation and casualties, but it seems like an overreaction. Maybe I'm just insensitive.
Sebastian AnthonyJan 18th 2010 11:14PM
Well I don't think it's possible to 'overreact' given the circumstances.
But the online world in general (and social networking in particular!) does have a way of... waving its hands around and making lots of noise but not actually getting anything _done_ :)
RyanJan 18th 2010 11:24PM
Raising awareness through action is one of the best ways to encourage donations. Donations will help to curtail the hell that the people in Haiti are experiencing, and hopefully save some lives. This is why a pink ribbon or a box of thin mint cookies is significant.
WHO ARE YOU KIDDING YOU WINDOW-LICKING, BACKWARDS, ASS-THUMPING APES?
Do you realize that your comment speaks only to those of us who already understand, and alienates or insults those that don't. Do you realize that this is sensational, and that more women will be abused across the globe this year than those that suffer harm and/or death in Haiti? Do you realize that less people will have died in Haiti than in Darfur.
Who are you kidding?
Sebastian AnthonyJan 18th 2010 11:26PM
Hmm... I think a physical pink ribbon is a good thing. Just like the red poppies that we wear in November. A virtual pink ribbon? I'm not so sure.
I don't know -- it just feels like making waves for the sake of it.
How is a status message like that more effective than a similar message with a link to the Red Cross/UNICEF tacked on the end?
RyanJan 18th 2010 11:50PM
That's a good suggestion, and you're right, that's better. But I don't think that it's a contest. Food, clean water, and shelter is all that's needed. If it's from your blog article or Facebook awareness, the life it saves is what's important. How it got there isn't. We could let a committee come up with a physical entity, but then so many people would have died while we were deciding on what was going to be the object.
If you want to be mad, get mad at the atrocities that the mainstream media doesn't cover. I'm mad as hell, but I lack the couth required to make a difference. You have a platform, and a voice.
AaronJan 19th 2010 1:55AM
I see, so you are proposing we raise awareness… by not talking about it?
Clever idea. Clever idea, indeed…
AaronJan 18th 2010 11:22PM
You may not agree, but as good as donating is... Awareness is better.
Go ahead, and ask how many people on Facebook know where Haiti is?
Get off your f*cking soapbox, and give some credit. There are a lot of people using Facebook that don't know what computer they own, let alone what's happening in Haiti.
Sebastian AnthonyJan 18th 2010 11:27PM
Are you trying to be funny...? I'm not sure :P
JoePalmaJan 19th 2010 3:36AM
Ask how many people on Facebook know where ANY country is.
People are just DUMB, We've been at war since 2003 but I bet 90% of my friends on Facebook couldn't find Iraq on a map.
JoePalmaJan 19th 2010 3:33AM
Go Seb! I've been saying this kind of thing for a long time. These are such useless futile actions that it amazes me that they even try them. "Raise awareness about Haiti", If you're not aware by now you're prolly dead. It's all over the interwebs, on tons of sites that are even news sites; and it's every other commercial on TV.
Just fucking donate, don't make it a fucking point to say "I'M GONNA SHUT MY VIRTUAL PIE HOLE FOR 5 MINUTES!"
And to the people who say awareness is the most important thing, you're idiots. Every time I see something that says "Raising awareness for XXXXXXX" it's never for anything new and unknown. It's always cancer or aids or something that WE ARE ALREADY AWARE OF! Just do a damn donation drive, just saying you're raising awareness for something is as pictures of your pets online, sure it's cute, but get over yourself.
edwardJan 19th 2010 9:43AM
Epic rant is epic.
Interesting read. This kind of "trend" is one thing that helps keep me off of facebook and twitter.
I have also witnessed small scale hysteria spread by these mediums (along with text messaging). That scares me.
toddJan 19th 2010 9:55AM
I donated already -- I paid my taxes. (What? You think those and relief supplies being sent by the US Gov't are free and the troops work for nothing?) Heck, we've sent so many troops that France is claiming we're there to occupy the island, not help with relief.
NeoprimalJan 19th 2010 11:34AM
You sir, are cold.
No one can or should force anyone to donate, but to say you've donated because you've paid taxes, it's just wrong. Yes, some the relief sent by the US. Gov't is indeed, not 'free' and neither are some of the troops. Some people, have however donated their services and expertise (in addition to paying their taxes), some companies donate their services and product, and some of us since we can't be over there to help, have donated money (in addition to paying our taxes - so for you, I suppose that's a double donation).
Haiti isn't a joke. Already ravaged by horrific economic conditions from the get go and recent back to back devastation by hurricanes, it is in need of a little bit more than your (our) % of tax dollars that went to relief. And no, Haiti isn't sensationalized. Yes, there are lots of negatives and evils and downers happening in the world, but something as sudden as a huge earthquake that kills so many and destroys so much is a big shock to an already fragile way of life there.
Hurricane Andrew was talked about for years and years after the devastation it left in Florida. Think of Haiti as Hurricane Andrew x20...as it has been experienced by a place that doesn't have anything in terms of the capacity to recover the way the U.S does.
Have some fu$%ing heart.
sodapopJan 19th 2010 4:02PM
Todd, I agree with your sentiment. I don't think you are cold. I think you are practical and are not falling for to the mob mentality, jumping on the bandwagon, or *pretending* to care like so many are. You are right in pointing out that our government is yet again giving over taxes they raised for services the promised to Americans and for laws we voted for to help our own poor. As we look around our schools and children are suffering too. Obama had vowed not to fail Haiti ... as he is in the process of failing us.
I gave a little extra to Haiti. You should not feel compelled to because of it. I wonder how many of this empathetic yahoos fail to manage their personal economics on a daily and annual basis...
sodapopJan 19th 2010 4:25PM
Neoprimal,
"Washington to send 2,200 Marines, 3,500 troops and $100m in aid as Obama vows swift response; Rescue teams and aid workers face apocalyptic scenes and huge logistical problems in ruined city"
That was on the 14th...
Look at all the staff and equipment we are donating via tax dollars
http://www.whitehouse.gov/haitiearthquake
UN was already spending $1.64 million per day in Haiti
http://www.sfbayview.com/2009/haiti-policy-statement-for-president-obama-and-congress/
Part of the reason why Haiti is so messed up is US intervention and policy
Todd has a valid point.
rico001Jan 19th 2010 10:35AM
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