If a Social Media stunt was alone in a forest, would anyone hear it?

Remember the early days of social media? When done well, it can deepen existing relationships, forge new ones, and entertain and delight. But it has definitely turned on itself.

A fun story from the past, when social media could still be fun instead of the toxic burn pit it is now. In 2013, Mashable reported on the “Top Social Hoaxes” and recounted many stunts pulled by professionals meant to look like real time, real life, organically unfolding situations that suspended the belief of its watching public. My favorite, “Diane in Seat 7A” was story told through Twitter by “The Bachelor” producer Elan Gale. If you missed it (read: if you were in a temporary coma or somewhere without any internet signal), Elan live tweeted a “feud” between himself and a boisterous, obnoxious woman seated in 7A who was clearly angry about being stuck on a plane on Thanksgiving day. After exchanging increasingly nasty notes suggesting certain body parts be sucked, it culminated with Diane slapping Elan in the face at the gate.

I was captivated. Was sucked in ’til the very end. Even afterwards, when rumors surfaced on Twitter that the story was a hoax, I didn’t want to believe it wasn’t true. It was a GREAT story with all the elements: mystery, suspense, an underdog, a twist and sweet resolution. As it turns out, it was a hoax. Elan ended it, after more rumors started flying about that Diane had cancer, and was dying, and this was why she was so upset yadda yadda, with a photo of an empty chair, and this: “I conclude by saying hopefully a few people got a few laughs over a slow Thanksgiving weekend.”

WHAT. I’d been had! I’m a storyteller myself, and a smart lady. So how could this be?! Don’t ask me why I was so disturbed to find out… (GASP!)… the Internet lies. The backlash against Elan – and other social tricksters – shows that for some reason, people expect what they read to be true. They trust their personal news source, be it Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, or any other social channel, because it feels like this news is coming from a friend. At the very least, a friend of a friend.

Then there’s the viral video by Canadian airline WestJet, where they staged a kiosk featuring Santa at one of their departure gates, asking passengers what they really wanted for Christmas. Then, while the passengers flew en route to their destination, WestJet employees frantically shopped to fulfill the passengers wishes, delivering them to a waiting, unsuspecting group via baggage claim. Instead of their checked luggage, passengers instead retrieved wrapped packages addressed to them personally off the carousel… their teary reactions all captured on video and then beautifully edited together in a way that would make even the Grinch bawl his eyes out.

This got me thinking. Social is media after all. In both cases, I can assume the authors’ intentions were true – in that, they were seeking attention for themselves through the giving of emotions to others. If a great story delivers laughs, or tears, that turns audiences into fans, followers and customers… is this a bad thing? Should we feel duped when we discover a great story was a hoax, or a heartwarming story was a PR stunt? My jury is still out on that one (and does NOT apply to the biggest hoax of them all, the ”Big Lie“. That, my friends, is HORRIFYING.)  But it does make me wonder… would great storytellers still try as hard if they thought no one was listening?

I sincerely hope we never find out.

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