By Mayukh Saha / Truth Theory
Things go viral at the drop of a hat nowadays. With the massive number of users on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, everything from a cat video to a clever joke has the capacity to go viral in a matter of hours, sometimes in minutes. Just imagine, a third of the population is on just Facebook alone. Technology now allows for idea-sharing on an unheard-of scale and using that to spread some light humor only makes us human right?
Of course, this doesn’t mean that massive movements for causes don’t take shape on social media. All the movements of the recent past ranging from Occupy Wall Street to Black Lives Matter have gathered speed and momentum using the reach that the internet gives them. Even groups of hackers like Anonymous have taken to social media in order to expose wrongdoings and garner support. With this being the case, it isn’t surprising that governments across countries closely watch what goes on in the interwebs. Sometimes they go overboardand a simple joke is taken far too seriously.
So what happens when the government takes things far too seriously? Well, Matty Roberts can tell, now that he’s received the first-hand experience. Even if you’ve never heard of Roberts, you would have heard about the hilarious Facebook event he created – ‘Storm Area 51, They Can’t Stop Us All’. Area 51 is a top-secret military base in Nevada -a subject of speculation for many years. There are plenty who believe that aliens crash-landed in that area and are still living there. There are many who will tell you that the government is communicating with extraterrestrial life from there. And of course, it must all be kept a secret. It is heavily guarded at all times and signs are there everywhere telling people to stay away.
So what happens when the government takes things far too seriously? Well, Matty Roberts can tell, now that he’s received the first-hand experience. Even if you’ve never heard of Roberts, you would have heard about the hilarious Facebook event he created – ‘Storm Area 51, They Can’t Stop Us All’. Area 51 is a top-secret military base in Nevada -a subject of speculation for many years. There are plenty who believe that aliens crash-landed in that area and are still living there. There are many who will tell you that the government is communicating with extraterrestrial life from there. And of course, it must all be kept a secret. It is heavily guarded at all times and signs are there everywhere telling people to stay away.
