How Are Your Social Media Posts Affecting The Families And Friends Of MH370 Passengers?
SAYS talked to Nasreen Nasir and Freddy Lee, both of whom know a family member and friend respectively, onboard MH370, to find out how social media posts are affecting them.
By Mei Mei Chu — 13 Mar 2014, 07:04 PM — Updated over 10 years ago
How are the posts shared on your social media network affecting anxious families and friends of passengers on board MH370?
Nasreen Nasir and Freddy Lee are still waiting to hear from First Officer Fariq Abdul Hamid and American Phillip Wood who boarded the Boeing 777 on 8 March 2014
Fariq, the youngest son of Selangor Public Works Department deputy director Abdul Hamid Mad Daud, has recorded more than 2,763 hours of flying time. He began his career with MAS in 2007.
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Philip Wood works as a technical storage executive at IBM Malaysia and was transferred to a job from Beijing to Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia, where the flight originated. He was one of three Americans on the flight. "Do you want to know how it feels to lose a son at the age of 50?" said Sondra Wood, Philip Wood's mother, on Saturday.
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On day six of MH370 search and rescue operations, SAYS spoke to Nasreen, Fariq's cousin and Freddy, Philip's colleague. We asked how they're coping with what people are saying on social media and what they want Malaysian social media users to know.
SAYS: What has been hardest for you to see on social media about the MH370 news?
Nasreen Nasir: The hardest for me would be what people say about the incident. It's really sad to see some people sharing fake pictures (airplane crash, air macau pic, etc) from unknown sources and then say stuffs like "Oh mereka sudah dijumpai", or "Mereka sudah mati, mayat sedang dikutip, Al Fatihah". This directly affects not only me but my entire family because it's a sensitive thing, and everyone keeps speculating false news, when we have not heard anything yet from the authorities.
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Freddy Lee: Well the hardest thing has been what people are saying. I appreciate the well-wishers but there appear to be more nay-sayers out there. People taking pot-shots at authorities. I believe the nation has not seen a tragedy/disaster of this magnitude and may be ill-equipped to handle such. So it doesn't help when we're mocking them. If they're inept, it's there for the world to see already, no need to trample on them some more.
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Freddy Lee: The main objective of social media should be to provide information which are helpful to finding MH370. So some responsibility and discretion should be exercised when making statements. We are dealing with people's emotions which are running high at the moment. Oh and rumour mongering? Utterly irresponsible!
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SAYS: How do you cope with what you see on social media and MH370 news in general?
Pitbull's song 'Get It Started' has gone viral ever since a social media user linked the lyrics to the MH370 incident
Image via themalaysianinsider.comNasreen Nasir: I try not to think about the false news, even though it hurts but I would sometimes just ignore it. Because I believe the authorities will update us, not the people.
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Freddy Lee: Firstly, the legitimate reports: there appears to be contradicting statements made. It's frustrating to say the least. Even within our nation, the statements made so far don't seem to be coordinated. One party is saying this, and another party is saying that (and it happens to contradict)… so which is which? Don't they exchange notes? As for the illegitimate ones, I tend to filter out a lot of things I hear. I choose to listen to the official statements made by relevant authorities.
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SAYS: So you rely on your personal filter to pick and choose the right kind of content you want to subscribe to?
Freddy Lee: Yes. Find out whether the source of the news is reliable/trustworthy or not. Whenever I get something on WhatsApp, I would check that against whatever official statements have been made by the authorities. Sometimes, their intentions are good, but they may end up doing more damage than good. So it's best to check against what's been officially reported.
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SAYS: What kind of shared content is helpful to you?
A board for well wishes to write their prayers for those on board MH370 at KLIA
Image via livemint.comNasreen Nasir: Yesterday I saw an article on the recent allegations made against my cousin. Everyone's been sharing that on my feed and I'm really, really touched to see how a lot of them and media practitioners are defending Fariq. It's good to know that we're all in this together.
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Freddy Lee: Well, encouragements, obviously. This will help those who are waiting anxiously to find out what happened to their loved ones. They need every ounce of encouragement we can offer them. And of course, to extend emotional support (when we can).
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SAYS: Are you gravitating towards a certain type of content, like those that spell out facts about aviation, crashes, etc to understand the situation better?
SAYS: What would you like to say to Malaysian social media users?
"Please, for the sake of us - the families, respect our feelings and stop spreading false news."
Image via asiaone.comNasreen Nasir: Even though Fariq is just my cousin, I still feel the pain. It's heartbreaking to see some people who go around and spread rumours about the MH370 incident. I choose to ignore most of them, until the recent allegations made against him by Channel 9 Australia. Why is it so easy for us to point fingers? Where has our compassion gone?
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Freddy Lee: What I'd like to say to social media users … Be responsible citizens. What you say can bring about good or harm. Please exercise discretion and tact, and think about what you want to say and its potential repercussions before saying it. Several years ago, I said some things to someone who was in mourning and I meant it well but it was taken badly because of cultural differences. I should have thought about that more carefully before saying it. It's a lesson I would take to my grave.
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Nasreen Nasir: Please, for the sake of us - the families, respect our feelings and stop spreading false news. It’s hard enough for us to deal with this sorrow. Pray for the safety of the people on MH370. That's all we ask for. Please think before you post anything about MH370. Thank you.
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