Confusion swept across the Midlands of England on Monday after a tweet of a rehearsal for a Muse gig at Coventry’s Ricoh Arena was mistaken for a huge fire.
Oooh fire at the Ricoh twitter.com/kate_mulgrew/s…
— Kate Mulgrew (@kate_mulgrew) May 20, 2013
The image, tweeted by Kate Mulgrew yesterday afternoon, appeared to show the stadium on fire. It was actually a pyrotechnic rehearsal. The West Midlands Fire Service (WMFS) received no calls for an incident, and soon afterward it sent its own message via Twitter: “There is no fire at the Richo [sic] Arena Coventry. Pyrotechnic testing is currently going on for a concert.”
The hysteria on Twitter shows how the power of social media can spread a message as quick as a fire can spread round a building.
Liz Cooper, the arena’s marketing director, told BBC News:
My first thoughts were obviously the residents around the Ricoh so we got a message on to Twitter, but within 10 minutes, with the power of social media, it just went ballistic. Everybody phoned, everybody was concerned. Muse have got a very elaborate production set and they’ve got chimneys on stage.
We discussed the idea of using social media to make emergency calls in February. It may seem a far-off concept, but the fact that the WMFS responded within 21 minutes on Twitter, and the stadium managers themselves responded within 10 minutes, raises some interesting points.
I think the idea of using social media-generated images to build an interactive picture of an event that has happened or is ongoing has particular merit. But it’s certainly not likely to replace the 999 phone call in a hurry.
Now, who spotted the Muse song title in this article? Can you think of any more?
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Social Media can be an interesting tool, take for instance that I am a Muse fan and had no idea they were playing at the Ricoh Arena, this one mistaken Twitter post informed me of both. However that was not the intended message the poster was trying to send. The misrepresentation of the truth has gone on since grade school social media just gives people a faster way to spread the gossip, that claim to fame to be the first person to see or comment on the incident. This person couldnt have been too concerned about it since they only… Read more »
I’m not convinced even she thought it was a real fire though, if you look at her wording in the tweet. And evidently, the managers would have known if a real incident was in progress and would call the fire services themselves. I’ve been to the Ricoh, it’s a very modern facility with pretty high-tech systems. Shame about the team that plays there, mind 😉
When I read about news like this, it just reminds me of how people reacted to the Boston Marathon bombing. Some netizens decided to conduct an online hunt for the perpetrators, which led to wild goose chases and probably some false accusations. It also led to conspiracy theories.
Social media is a tool, yes, and it’s great for disseminating information–but it’s not 100% reliable or accurate, so keep that in mind the next time you see “news” posted on there.