The partner of Nicola Bulley, who was missing for 33 days early in the year, has described the online obsession with her disappearance as a monster that got out of control.
Paul Ansell said his family initially welcomed the huge public interest, but that changed when amateur sleuths on social media began posting numerous misleading theories about what had happened.
They accused him of killing her, misconstrued the limited information available, and released personal details about Nicola. Some people travelled to Lancashire to "help" the police, and simply got in the way.
Airing dubious theories in private to your family or friends is one thing (and I'm tempted to speculate as much as anyone else) but posting those theories online to thousands of impressionable people who're likely to keep repeating them indefinitely is another.
Of course a lot of the online speculation is just about getting attention, and the more attention the merrier.
Some of the would-be pundits even make out they're smarter than the police and have spotted things the police have overlooked. The sheer arrogance and self-inflation is breathtaking.
Unfortunately social media provides a perfect platform for these outpourings of meddling bullshit.
Pic: Nicola Bulley
Nick, I sigh . I know nothing about this person, case and people's interest . In general I'm not interested in things I have no knowledge about and to suppose possibilities why , how , who seems to me a loss of time. Normally there are institutions to find out or solve those events.
ReplyDeleteHannah
Exactly. There are institutions whose job it is to investigate these things. The self-appointed experts are just a big nuisance.
DeleteEverything has become a conspiracy theory these days. I read the link and it’s sad that their family’s private trauma was made public.
ReplyDeleteBijoux: Precisely. They should butt out, mind their own business and leave the devastated family alone.
DeleteAs if her death was not devastating enough for her loved ones. Blogger is the only social media I engage in. For a reason.
ReplyDeleteSandra: The only social media I participate in are Facebook and blogging, where I meet sensible, responsible people.
DeletePeople always do this now. The internet and being able to say whatever you want on something like this makes it harder on the police I think. Social media does not help at times like this.
ReplyDeleteMary: I think there will have to be a serious clampdown on social media eventually, as these outpourings of abuse and misinformation do so much damage.
DeleteIt's like village gossip on a vastly more hideous scale...
ReplyDeleteHelen: On an absolutely hideous and overwhelming scale, with thousands of people piling on mindlessly.
DeleteI'm not that much of a policeman but I think it should be made illegal to speculate publicly on social media on someone else's unsolved tragedy. If they make statements which are actually slanderous like they think someone killed someone else, they should be punished in the normal way that slander is punished. .
ReplyDeleteJenny: Making that sort of speculation illegal is a good idea. As I said to Mary, there should be a major clampdown on social media in general, to put an end to the relentless trolling and persecution. It's like the wild west out there.
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