I was going to write about digital social media and the misplaced blame it receives for so many of our societal ills… which are getting worse (the ills, that is).
However, an event of the past week directly links to my prior post and, in my estimation, underlines, highlights and confirms my deeply held belief that our own inability to distinguish between true and false, hype and real, propaganda and news is a great danger to all of us and, in fact, threatens the democratic societies many of us would like to continue to live in.
Last week I was concerned with paid, yet undeclared, celebrity posts that touted and promoted products and services.
As I reported, in the United States, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has always been wary of such deception and in today’s enhanced digital-sharing society has taken steps to regulate such questionable behavior.
Hardly had my ramble posted when the news broke about the failure of the Fyre Festival to make good on any of its promises regarding “two transformative weekends” of total luxury and stargazing that would become the Coachella for the well-heeled millennial, as described by The New York Times:
