Redditor Calls Out Minorityvoices Instagram For Lacking Credibility
A redditor, sgrawthrowaway, called out the minorityvoices Instagram for allegedly not vetting the submissions they receive from the public.
In the reddit post, sgrawthrowaway explained that he was curious about the authenticity of the racial privilege stories shared on Instagram. He then decided to submit 20 fabricated stories about racism from the Chinese community towards the minority to minorityvoices.
He was shocked to find out that a few of his stories were published on the platform without any verification even when he left his contact details for that purpose.
One of the fabricated stories posted was about a healthcare worker who couldn’t get a ride home when they tried to flag a cab.
According to the redditor, his purpose was to find out if the various social justice accounts found online would take the time to verify if the stories sent to them had some truth.
As with many anecdotal records, it is hard to verify the authenticity of the stories especially when submitted anonymously. Other redditors pointed this out in the thread.
Some mentioned that most of the anonymous submissions made on such accounts should be taken with a pinch of salt.
There is some truth in this. Virality depends on collective outrage and the more outrageous the story is, the more likely that it will get clicks.
Minorityvoices made a post explaining the situation and expressed their displeasure for being the victim of manipulation by the redditor.
Source: Instagram, minorityvoices
They protested that the stories were crafted in a malicious manner by drawing on the lived experiences of minorities in Singapore.
They called out the redditor for abusing a platform of trust.
While it was shoddy investigative work, to say “sowing seeds of disharmony based on false narratives” is a rather strong statement. There is no way to verify the authenticity of submitted user stories and unfortunately, there will be those who abuse the anonymity clause.
Having said that, it should not diminish the voices of those who are sharing their actual experiences on a platform that champions minorities. At the end of the day, take such submissions with a pinch of salt. If it sounds incredulous, just move along.
Reporter’s Opinions: Frankly speaking, there is no way to verify the authenticity of anonymous submissions. Details could have been added for flair.
We only knew the redditor’s submission was fabricated because he admitted to making it up as part of his experiment.
We were taught to be descriptive and even exaggerate a little while writing our essays. There will always be people who will apply that to real life situations because it gives them the attention that they crave.
In the world of social media, clickability is what generates leads. If that means crying wolf, some will go to that extent. It’s the same for social justice causes. Like the recent Raeesah Khan fiasco.
I am not advocating it nor am I slandering social justice causes and warriors. But the harsh truth is that there will always be people who will resort to drastic measures to get their point across.
Even when it affects their credibility or the credibility of the platform they choose to share it on. It’s selfish but that is human nature, and that is especially true for those who crave attention and will take it in whatever form they get.
At the end of the day, this was a social experiment that was meant to generate buzz. Congratulations, you got your conversation.
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