The Dangers of Poop Posting

My daughter-in-love Joi Jackson knowing my DEI work and numerous conversations we have had about using social media effectively, sent me a link to an influencer’s conversation about race relations that was going viral. The conversation was indeed funny and what I would call Poop Posting (as in doggy poop). Poop posting focuses on a topic with appeal to the general public, is intentionally provocative and is designed to entertain or to get folks riled up with fear or anger so that the communication will go viral. The influencer who Joi pointed me to was a comedian so it was clear (at least to me) that the goal was to entertain rather than inform. However, even as entertainment, the thread could reinforce stereotypes as it focused on personal lived experiences rather than researched-backed data. Some folks don’t know the difference.

According to Pew Research Center 54% of U.S. adults get their news from social media, at least sometimes, and social media is especially important for young adults as a news source. Poop posting can be fun entertainment, but when designed to spread disinformation and divide us, it hurts our democracy.

Here are a few examples:

Poop posting by a handful of right-wing activist organizations and Republican lawmakers led to massive book banning. Book banning increased by 92% from 2023 according to the American Library…