In search of a better metaphor

When I was a boy, I learned the tale of the Boy Who Cried Wolf. It served me as a lesson in the value of telling the truth.

My friends like to post on social media. I do too. A few times each year someone feels the need to defend their posts with a post that suggests they are not (necessarily) posting content that they personally agree with, endorse, or whatever… but they liked it enough to share. This comes in several forms and usually after some string of posts that have triggered people on my friend’s subscriber list. This is not just one friend. This happens often.

Instead of an apology or change in behavior, there is a post that states: My posts do not reflect the real me. We have all seen it. I’m not racist, but that post made me laugh. I’m not misogynist. But my group of friends are going to laugh at this post making fun of women. I’m not homophobic but this is worth sharing on my wall. Or Tweet. Whatever. I’m not political, but this post is great. Etc. Etc.

Professor John Suler writes on cyberpsychology: people use the virtual wall of anonymity to say and do things they would never do in person. This virtual extension of our personality allows users to show parts of themselves that the public would not likely see. Maybe we would. Some of us sleep with monsters, but that’s another fairy tale.

In the Boy Who Cried Wolf the young shepherd wanted to feel important; so one night he cried “Wolf!!!” until the villagers came running. There was no wolf. The boy does it the next night. And again, the villagers come running. Does anyone know what happened the third night? Of course, that is when the wolf truly comes. And this time the boy’s cries go unanswered. The wolf lives and another sheep dies. It is just a tale. We used to teach children the story so they would learn about honesty.

But what if today’s version of crying wolf are false posts on Facebook? People are posting nonsense and the village comes running with Likes and shares. Again and again. Whether the meme is about COVID or Kaepernick, the original creator of these memes is unknown. For now, let us simply say that falsehoods are created by a trickster or wolf. Posts, memes, tweets, videos and social media are being shared by thousands of people daily. The difference between the fable and Facebook is that the boy in the fable was a young shepherd. In the fable, the boy learns a lesson and the village loses a sheep. He was being trained to become a full member (adult) of the community.

My friends on social media do not share that role. They are not shepherds, young or old. They already have communities within communities, or to be more specific: virtual communities that exist within real cities, towns, suburbs, and farms across the world. Their shared values reinforce group think. From a simple meme, one man’s joke takes on a life of its own. Rather than challenge a falsehood, it simply grows stronger in its hold over those who never question whether to click and share. The fable no longer serves as a metaphor for how to handle the modern world of falsehoods. We can no longer stop running as a village when the boy lies, because there will always be villagers who come running. And the wolves are stronger than ever before. I need a new story to teach my children about truth. I need a new metaphor.