Today while on Facebook I saw that a friend had posted the link for a video on upworthy.com. The video, which was originally a short film made for the GE Focus Forward campaign, tells the story of a doctor who cured a 6-year old girl's Leukemia by injecting her with the HIV virus. The HIV, which had been altered so it could not spread actual HIV, acts to genetically alter the patients T-Cells so they recognize the cancer as an intruder and begins to fight them off. The procedure worked, and just 3 weeks later the patient, Emily Whitehead, was in remission. It was such an incredible story and I so badly wanted it to be true. To be honest, though, I've become so cynical about everything I see these days, that I didn't know if I could actually believe that something so incredible had really happened. I wanted it to be true, but people have made up stories for publicity before. So, I went on a hunt to see if the story was legitimate.
It turns out, the doctor in the film is really a doctor and he is Dr. Carl June, an immunologist who spent 20 years in the U.S. Navy studying HIV and bone marrow transplants. He is now a researcher at the University of PennsyIvania where, after his wife succumbed to ovarian cancer in 2001, he has worked to perfect a gene therapy to cure cancer. I found the story on MSN, NBC, Bloomberg Businessweek and even The New York Times. This was a story that went viral that was actually true.
I think that sometimes, yes, social media sites can be reliable for obtaining credible information, but at the same time I still feel like it's our responsibility to find out if what we're reading is true. You should never take one source at face value without doing your own investigating. As educated individuals we can combat the effort of others who are posting things that aren't true on social media sites by doing our part to make sure everything that we offer to cyberspace is accurate and worth sharing with others. If we aren't doing our own research and making sure the content we're producing is true, then who will? If It weren't for social media platforms like Facebook, this story would not have garnered as much attention as it has, and in the world we live in, we need as many positive news pieces as we can get.
If anyone would like to view the video on Upworthy, or would like to know more about the Focus Forward Campaign or wants to watch some more of their videos, here are the links:
Upworthy Video
Focus Forward Films
Samantha --
ReplyDeleteI actually watched that video as well, and so badly wanted it to be the real story. I am so happy that it turned out to be legitimate, but like you, checked out other news sources to be sure. I like that you mentioned that "if it weren't for social media platforms like Facebook, this story would not have garnered as much attention as it has, and in the world we live in, we need as many positive news pieces as we can get." This reminds me of so many posts I see on Facebook on a daily basis, linking to people's stories about anything ranging from military dogs crying at their owner's graves, to children being 100 days cancer free. It is pretty amazing how much we can learn on social media - the trick is, as you mentioned, to be responsible in checking our facts before we go sharing the same story.
I enjoyed reading your blog this week! :)
-- Alena
Hi Samantha,
ReplyDeleteSocial media has unlocked the world of viral video. I received the same post and while I had heard about this amazing development a few months ago I did watch the video. You and Alena maka e good point that social media has provided an outlet to raise awareness and advocacy. I wonder how many of us received the link to this video? At the same time you can get so innundated with links to videos and appeals for support that you can get a little jaded and just keep scrolling down the page. Thanks for taking the time to do the extra digging and verify the sources. Definitely good news worth sharing.
Best,
Susan EM
Susan, I agree we always need to make sure that the information we are obtaining is in fact, credible. I think that Facebook is a good way to see different types of news because as we know it Facebook has become a social media site where people share their views. Obviously we need to separate fact from opinion.
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