The frantic international search for the missing Titan submarine continues, and a documentary about the tragedy is already scheduled to be aired on British broadcaster Channel 5 on Thursday at 7pm local time. This comes just hours after the clock stopped due to lack of oxygen on board the Titanic, which disappeared near the wreckage on Sunday, leaving five people on board, including a father and his 19-year-old son. He died of slow suffocation.
Even if Titan’s location is determined, it is increasingly likely that rescue will be technically impossible. The unimaginable tragedy attracted the kind of bizarre media frenzy we’ve grown accustomed to in the 21st century – the claustrophobia, frozen limbs, confusion, and mood swings that might be going on inside Titan. Minute-by-minute explanation – It’s about the size of a sardine minivan and has one small porthole.
The exploitative coverage of death and terrorism unfolding in real time is further exacerbated by public reactions on TikTok, Twitter, and Instagram. Gleeful makes fun of the video game controller used to pilot the Titan, laughs at the billionaire in the submarine, jokes about the effects of lack of oxygen on the human psyche, and replaces fart sounds. This best describes the purpose of many posts, such as: A knocking sound that rescue workers likely heard underwater.
Let’s not forget the disturbing digital footprint of missing passenger Hamish Harding’s son-in-law Brian Szasz. Brian Zsasz attended a Blink-182 concert during the search and posted about how music helps people through difficult times. Rapper Cardi B criticized him, he fired back, a very unhelpful online beef went viral, and countless strangers flocked to him for all the wrong reasons.
Like the digital Tower of Babel, social media is evolving into an increasingly ugly and chaotic space. It’s a real-time repository of our worst impulses, uninspired musings, scatological humor, and inappropriate thoughts that should be kept to ourselves. It’s the online Mall of America. It’s a vast, empty, relentlessly commercial, soul-sucking mall. And at a time of immense political, environmental and social crisis, it has become a dumping ground for vile comments broadcast publicly. Because that’s exactly what we’re doing right now.
There is much to unravel about this particular incident on the Titan. These include the fact that a boat carrying 750 migrants capsized off the coast of Greece five days before the submarine disappeared in the Atlantic Ocean. Only 104 passengers survived. This horrific accident received nothing close to 24 hours of relentless media coverage as Titan.
The unfortunate name of the company that built the Titan submarine is also “Oceangate”, but thanks to that suffix it inherently smells of scandal. Titan was piloted by the company’s CEO and founder, Stockton Rush, who allegedly ignored potentially dangerous conditions on board in favor of profit. Tickets for the eight-hour voyage cost $250,000 each.
Finally, there is the charm, mystery, and legend of the Titanic itself. The ill-fated ship is a byword for arrogance, famous for exposing the sordid impulses of the super-rich who fled a sinking steamship in a life raft, leaving the isolated third-class passengers to die. That disaster occurred in 1912. That year, American presidential elections centered around issues of economic inequality, reaching their peak in his 1929 year, just before the stock market crash and the Great Depression.
Today’s income inequality is even worse. According to the 2022 World Inequality Report, there are nearly 3,000 billionaires in the world, who have more wealth than half of the population. No wonder the public on social media is rooting for killer whales to attack luxury yachts. There is real anger at the wealthy and the way they waste money on vanity projects like commercial rockets to the moon while the earth is literally on fire.
Nevertheless, as one well-meaning commentator posted on Twitter, it is possible to hold space for both drowned immigrants and missing billionaires. In fact, to maintain any semblance of human decency, we must respect human suffering and death on all levels.
And social media can be used for good if you make the effort. Some users track maritime traffic in the area via satellite and post their results. Others are actively trying to counter the rampant misinformation surrounding Titan’s disappearance.
Imagine for a moment that there was a camera inside the Titan, allowing you to watch the ship’s growing despair. If we had to actually see the pain in the eyes of dying people, would we make a joke of it?
I hope that doesn’t happen. But as the gap between our brains and online avatars grows dangerously porous, I wonder if we seem to be losing touch with the flesh-and-blood vessels that house our minds. .