Make it loud, or else
People care only about what they care
People only care about big cover stories that are good looking. Stories that will make the title, either are good or bad news. If anyone wants something to be heard, you better hope it will go viral. Get louder, or no one will care.
Remember a few years ago in 2014, the Ice Bucket Challenge? Celebrities, YouTubers, influencers, and people around the world was doing that and sharing on social platforms. As I recall, it has gone viral for quite sometime. Most people did that for views and likes, because it’s fun and somewhat entertaining. I bet they don’t really care about the disease—Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) itself. Despite the intention, they did raise a lot of money. The challenge achieved its goal—fundraising: to ask more people to donate to the cause. And it does a very good job at that. But there’re so many diseases that don’t have such amount of attention.
In 2015, there was a fire accident happened at an industrial building in the city. Two firefighters were dead, it was tragic. They sacrificed their life heroically. It was all over the news. Everyone was mourning for them and fundraising for their families. The government holds an official funeral service with full honours. Celebrities or anyone who is famous pays tribute to them. They took a selfie in front of a mirror and turns on the flashlight while taking the photo. Photos were shared on social platforms. It was a very emotional cover story on the newspaper and TV. It kind of demonstrates the kindness of Hong Kong people in our society.
Meanwhile, at the almost exact same time. Another tragedy happened. Two road workers were dead in a car accident. The journalist mentioned that they did every safety measurement they could when they were working on the road. They did nothing wrong. It was the car driver who drove the car into them. They died on the spot. But they’re just some workers. They’re nobody. They don’t look good. They won’t make a good cover story. Ain't no one will mourn for them and their families. They got nothing for their hard work. No one will pay tribute to them. They just died and that’s it.
People die everyday, who cares?
At the time, I was working as a designer in a agency. I just got promoted to a senior position. That was my “prime time”. I remember I asked my colleagues what they think about the accidents. They agreed that no one really care about the workers. I said something like people were being a bit hypocritical. One of my co-workers told me that there weren’t any contradictions between the two incidents. People care only about what they care. I guess he’s so damn right.
This also reminds me of a film Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (2014). Riggan (Michael Keaton) trying so hard to make his come back in theater. The fact is, no one cares about his performance that much. Turns out, he went viral because of a video that he was filmed naked walking across the street in New York City. Well, unintentionally got all the attention he ever wanted.
You might have guessed it, I’m trying to make a point.
Sometimes, you’ve to make some noise if you want to be heard.
I kind of wish more people like Greta Thunberg. If you care for the environment, or any topics you concerned. Go fucking make it loud.
This is #Day41 of #100DaysToOffload.
Footnotes
- “Ice Bucket Challenge is an activity involving the pouring of a bucket of ice water over a person's head.” via Wikipedia. ↩︎
- Understanding ALS via The ALS Association. ↩︎
- “Greta Thunberg is a Swedish environmental activist who is known for challenging world leaders to take immediate action for climate change mitigation.” via Wikipedia. ↩︎