With every new death, illness, or possible illness from swine flu, the hysteria increases. Swine flu hasn't become a major pandemic, but the hype certainly has. We need to calm down and employ the Internet to put swine flu in perspective. We need to use Internet tools -- graphics, mainstream news articles, blogs, Twitter, and social networking sites -- to inject rationality into discussions.
ThinkerNet blogger Jart Armin and Editor-in-Chief Terry Sweeney have ably discussed some of this irrationality. Sweeney reviews the hysteria and useless information. Armin examines swine flu spammers who could infect your computer with a "real" (albeit electronic) virus to steal information or exhort you to pay for non-existent products.
However, knowing there's a problem is only the first step. The next step is employing the Internet to do something about it, which I haven't seen discussed.
Firstly, Internet articles using "pandemic" need to ensure that readers know what that really means. It doesn't mean everyone dies or even the majority of people die. It means that a disease spreads across a wide geographic area. By that definition, the common cold is a pandemic. Therefore, articles need to define the term, either in the text or with a link to a glossary.
Secondly, readers must understand the history of pandemic scares that have been far less terrible than the hype anticipated. Remember SARS? I'm not downplaying the potential seriousness of such diseases, but rather the idea that every potential pandemic wreaks tremendous havoc. Again, the Internet's linking capabilities might come into play to provide supplementary information to calm the hysteria.
Thirdly, I'd make sure to include data in maps and charts that puts the swine flu in perspective. For decades, 37,000 to 41,000 people have died every year from automobile accidents -- and that's just in the United States. More than 650,000 people die from heart disease, and more than 550,000 people die from cancer annually in the U.S. On average, 36,000 Americans die each year from "seasonal" flu and its complications, with 250,000 to 500,000 dying annually worldwide.
So when I see fancy Internet maps and charts detailing swine flu illness and deaths, I also want to see -- on the same Web page -- deaths from heart disease, cancer, automobile accidents, etc., that correlate to the regions with swine flu. I'd also like to see those Web pages include deaths and illnesses from pollution; for instance, it's been estimated that 656,000 Chinese die annually from air pollution.
As a result, I call upon corporate Websites, bloggers, and Twitterers to support my own modest proposal: Gov. Schwarzenegger must immediately declare a state of emergency that bans every vehicle and shutters all industries emitting pollutants until California can halt the tens of thousands of deaths from the pollution pandemic. We cannot allow this pandemic to kill Californians or cause them to lose their sense of smell!
To be very clear: I'm not minimizing the horrors of a swine flu pandemic that sickens and kills huge numbers of people -- if it actually occurs. Even a single death is sad. But the Internet has been used to mercilessly hype this disease, and it's time to use this marvelous global network to undo the incorrect and misleading information.
That's the main point of my blog -- to provide perspective by including other examples of much more lethal conditions, such as automobile accidents, pollution, heart disease and even seasonal flu.
Although many articles were responsible and reasonable, the Internet didn't use its resources -- especially for comparing other conditions -- effectively.
Fear by the media of getting scooped and not generating enough page views. Fear by governments of "not doing enough" and getting voted out of office or fired. Fear by school administrators of getting sued by parents for "not doing enough."
That's why I'd like to see the Internet provide more perspective and reason.
I'm with you! It seems that years ago the principle of not unnecessarily alarming people, i.e., calling fire in a crowded theatre, ought to apply to agencies and giving accurate information.
Agencies should be responsible enough to disseminate information accurately to avoid panic among the ordinary people. News reports on TV should be provided to the masses with enough authority and backed by clear evidence since the people depend so much on them "hoping" they are 100% accurate and perfectly researched. Hopefully the Internet could also be more accessible to many so that there would be more information which the people could get.
The hysteria over swine flu has calmed down in the United States. The media still report illnesses and the rare death, but the panicky stories have pretty much ended.
Of course, the hysteria could come back again if swine flu becomes more epidemic and more dangerous. Let's hope that doesn't occur.
Thanks for agreeing with me! I wrote the article to argue for perspective, and how the Internet could help promote that.
What the "state of emergency" declarations manifest is the reality of what we may call "reactionism" - when something happens that seem to be uncontrollable people - and leaders - react extremely. I am not saying it is bad since people have died and the flu seem to be really nasty. But the thing is that probably it has become nasty because we have forgotten that the best way to prevent things like these is to ensure that the environment is clean and healthy hence I agree with you that Mr California Governor should declare industries causing air pollution to shut down until they could solve the problem.
Living in the Washington, D.C. area, I certainly feel my life is more in danger from political pandering!
Employing the Internet to provide perspective is exactly what I suggested, although I don't see it being used in the way I'd like, such as integrating statistics from other diseases, such as heart disease and cancer, into charts and graphs that display swine flu deaths and illness.
The ThinkerNet does not reflect the views of TechWeb. The ThinkerNet is an informal means of communication to members and visitors of the Internet Evolution site. Individual authors are chosen by Internet Evolution to blog. Neither Internet Evolution nor TechWeb assume responsibility for comments, claims, or opinions made by authors and ThinkerNet bloggers. They are no substitute for your own research and should not be relied upon for trading or any other purpose.
It is difficult to underestimate the value of wireless data in Haiti in aiding relief workers and residents in wake of the 7.0 magnitude earthquake that hit the country on January 12. Quite literally, wireless data has been a life-saving technology.
I'm cautiously optimistic that Apple's iPad will be successful because it's Apple-like and non-Apple-like. Those characteristics have major advantages and disadvantages that affect the value of the iPad. UPDATED 12:25 PM
May the gods be praised! Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) has finally unveiled what appears to be its online file storage capability -- a so-called Google Drive or GDrive -- for consumers and businesses.
Hysteria has reached fever pitch as techies around the world can hardly contain themselves until January 27, when Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL) is rumored to be announcing its new tablet computer. Also, during the past several months, interesting tablets and concepts for tablets have been unveiled by other manufacturers. The New York Times has called 2010 "The Year of the Tablet."
In Charles Dickens's classic story A Christmas Carol, Ebenezer Scrooge asks the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come about scenes he will be shown from his future: "Are these the shadows of the things that will be, or are they shadows of things that may be, only?"
Smarter Collaboration: How to Thrive in a Challenging Business Environment Market conditions are changing faster than ever, and organizations need to improve their agility and adaptability in order to provide better service and improve processes. The ability to work with customers, business partners, and employees as effectively as possible - while at the same time holding down costs - is a key to success. READ THIS eBOOK
your weekly update of news, analysis, and
opinion from Internet Evolution - FREE! REGISTER HERE
Wanted! Site Moderators Internet Evolution is looking for a handful of readers to help moderate the message boards on our site – as well as engaging in high-IQ conversation with the industry mavens on our thinkerNet blogosphere. The job comes with various perks, bags of kudos, and GIANT bragging rights. Interested?
To save this item to your list of favorite Internet Evolution content so you can find it later in your Profile page, click the "Save It" button next to the item.
The Google backlash continues. After seeing their Project 10^100 submissions disappear into the bowels of a Google server farm, a group of irate developers has started their own site to re-collect and vote on the ideas.
BTI sent Steve a card calling him a tool. Unsurprisingly, he’s not happy, and he dons his Martha Stewart hat to show us how corporate holiday greetings should be done.
With the number of mobile broadband users more than doubling in 2009, and soon to exceed fixed broadband, the Internet saw a historic transition this year – and the long-term effects are incalculable.
As enterprises leap into the Web 2.0 world of blogging, commenting, and social networking, just 'being there' won't deliver ROI. You may want a 'Web Evangelist' to systematically harvest the feedback in order to polish your product or service.
More companies are trolling social networks to find and vet potential job candidates. Beware the pitfalls of blurring the line between personal and professional lives.
Research shows that the youth of today like Facebook – but not blogging or Twitter. Does that mean Facebook has won, or just that it's not yet out of favor? Will all the services we see today fade into Ovaltine-or-Wheaties status in just a few years?
What kinds of companies are doing the most innovation in the data center? Turns out it's midtier enterprises that are taking the "Just Right" approach.
Digg
Del.icio.us
Reddit
Email This
TWEET THIS
