What's Going on in Ukraine?
What's really going on in Ukraine, and how we can make a difference on social media.
What’s Going on in Ukraine?
With the recent news of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, many on social media have been in a frenzy, posting about their confusion. Within just the past few days, the Russia-Ukraine conflict has taken over Twitter, with nearly 100k tweets under the hashtag #stopPutin.
In a world of constantly available streams of media and a prevalent epidemic of misinformation surrounding the biggest topics in today’s news — not to mention the meme-culture of younger generations contributing to media inflation and “fake news” — it can be overwhelming and seemingly impossible to obtain accurate information about current events. Here’s what we know to be true about the Russian invasion in Ukraine, and how we as a community can come together and use social media for a positive purpose:
What We Know So Far
Late Wednesday night and Thursday morning, Russian troops launched an attack on Ukraine that began with explosions before dawn in the capital Kyiv and other surrounding cities. The health minister of Ukraine said Russia’s intent was to destroy the state of Ukraine, which has been intent on moving out of Moscow’s reach. Russian President Vladimir Putin warned other countries in a televised address that any attempt to interfere would “lead to consequences you have never seen in history.”
For more information on why this is happening and the history between Russia and Ukraine, read this article written by NBC News reporter Yuliya Talmazan: https://www.aol.com/does-putin-want-understanding-russias-175648707.html
How to Use Social Media To Create Awareness:
Social media is a large factor in the worldwide spread of misinformation, but it can also be an incredible tool for spreading awareness and instilling positive change. As members of the creator economy, we have a social responsibility to share meaningful content, and this may require more time, effort, and research than just reposting a story. These are some ways that we can become more educated on the Russia-Ukraine conflict and do our part to minimize the amount of false news and media-fear tactics on social media.
➡ Avoiding War Pages
Journalist Taylor Lorenz published an article for Input Magazine on Friday about social media ‘war pages’ posting fake content about the invasion of Ukraine. She reported that private accounts were posting shocking footage from battlegrounds and videos depicting violence. While some of the content posted by these pages may actually be from Ukraine, many are posting old war videos (some not even in the same country or area as Ukraine) with the goal to gain followers by leveraging tragedy and violence. She continued, stating that some go as far as monetizing these followers by “posting advertisements, often for OnlyFans creators”.
Lorenz interviewed one of the admins of a war page who has been receiving an influx in followers and viewership since the conflict in Ukraine. The 21-year-old admin of Instagram pages @livefromukraine and @POVwarfare — who has a background in running meme pages — told Lorenz in a phone interview “What I’m trying to do is get as many followers as possible by using my platform and skills”. When asked about the videos he shares, “I can’t really verify them myself”.
An example of a fake post about the Russian invasion in Ukraine from TikTok, via Abbie Richards on Twitter (fact-checked by Daniel Dale for CNN)
This admin is just one of the many that have been posting content about the Russia-Ukraine conflict with the narrative that he is actually in Ukraine, when in fact he is not. “No one even knows what’s going on,” he says. “They believe anything that’s put in front of them. I’m putting up what I believe is accurate, and they can draw an opinion based on that”.
Note: Many of the pictures being released by news outlets and posted on social media is footage and photos from Russian military training and were likely taken before the invasion began this week. Because of the tension surrounding this footage, I am not including any photos released by news outlets of military combat and violence in Ukraine for the sake of reducing false information displayed by images.
Tweet from CNN reporter and fact-checker Daniel Dale
It’s important for frequent consumers of social media to recognize the possibility of a fake or falsified account. Especially since a handful of these pages created to report on the conflict in Ukraine are simultaneously trying to monetize their content. Even though an account may have a significant amount of followers, it doesn't mean that it is a legitimate news source.
Update: By the end of day Thursday, Instagram had taken down @livefromukraine, @povwarfare, and other war accounts for violating community guidelines. An Instagram spokesperson told Input, “We removed a series of Instagram accounts that made false claims about their location and purpose to grow their following... This activity violates our policies against inauthentic behavior, and we’ll continue to monitor and take action when we find it.”
➡ Participating in Conscious Reposting
The reposting phenomena gained significant traction throughout the Black Lives Matter movement and extended into the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, 2020 election, the Israel-Palestine conflict, and the Sudan crisis (to name a few).
Toxic reposting is the concept of taking a social media post related to a current event and reposting it on your own Instagram feed or story. This can also take place on platforms such as Twitter and Facebook; anywhere with a feature to reshare someone else’s content. The difference between general reposting and ‘toxic’ reposting (using the term ‘toxic’ loosely), is that toxic reposting involves a lack of further research and fact-checking to make sure the content an individual is sharing is current and beneficial to other users.
Again, as creators, we have a responsibility to share accurate information. Avoiding absorbing all of your current news from social media sites such as Instagram and TikTok and taking the time to fact-check information shared in posts before resharing it is simply the bare minimum of what we can do to support ongoing social and political causes.
One resource that you can utilize for information besides TikTok and Twitter is the Kyiv Independent. KyivIndependent.com: According to its ‘About’ section, the Kyiv Independent is “Ukraine’s English-language media outlet, created by journalists who were fired from the Kyiv Post for defending editorial independence.” This publication is currently reporting on the situation in Ukraine, posting articles as frequently as ten minutes apart.
➡ Taking a Step Back from ‘Meme Culture’
Via TikTok
Despite the serious nature of the conflict in Ukraine, memes surrounding this issue are going viral on Instagram and TikTok. While these platforms are working on removing accounts such as the war pages mentioned above, memes are still penetrating the front lines of news media and continue to circulate the media.
While creating memes and humorous videos is definitely a way to lighten a situation — we saw that happen a lot at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic — but it is not beneficial to the people in Ukraine who are fearing for their lives. It could even be argued that these memes help spread awareness, but in a more real sense, they contribute to fear and media-induced anxiety, and facts tend to be overlooked after watching these videos.
Instagram meme creator Jackson Weimer stated, “War is just another thing [...] meme accounts can monetize.” Most often than not, memes surrounding these subjects in not for any other gain than that of the account owner.
Where Do We Go From Here?
While it may not seem like we can do a lot to support Ukraine, by cleansing the media and doing our part to minimize false information and educating ourselves on the situation as best as we can, we are making a conscious effort to understand the current events of the world in a responsible way. There are definitely resources to which you can donate to the cause, but we urge you to do further research before donating your money. In the meantime, by reporting war pages and avoiding toxic reposting and meme culture on the internet, we can utilize social media as a tool instead of contributing to the media news dumpster fire.
All information was taken from the past 72 hours. News is fact-checked to the best of our ability and is susceptible to change over time. No donation resources were included for the safety of your funds, however, we encourage you to do further research if you have the financial resources to do so. Thank you for taking the time to become educated on this topic.