Problem and Solution Essay Draft 1

In the United States of America, information tends to spread through social media with great speeds. This is especially true if the information generates fear, such as the dangers of the Ebola virus (Mulvey, 2015). There is no doubt in anyone’s mind that Ebola is a very deadly virus. According to World Health Organisation, the Ebola virus is often fatal when untreated. However, it is not as contagious as depicted in the rumours floating around the social media platforms such as being airborne; it can only transmit from one person to another by direct contact and exchange of bodily fluids of the infected person.

 In most cases, the rumours of the virus nature are exaggerated such as its death rate being a astounding 90 percent. All these rumours cause an irrational fear of the virus, leading to social and economic losses which are caused mainly by the fear of the virus and not the virus itself (Marcelo, 2014). To address this problem the White House and the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) attempts to educate the public of the true nature of Ebola by releasing public statements on mass media such as the news and the newspapers (Edelman 2014).

Ill-informed people in the United States of America are having irrational fear of Ebola due to the false information circulating around the net. Even though the obvious solution to the problem which is to educate the masses on the correct information on the virus. The CDC and White House efforts to calm the fears by announcing public statements on the news are not as effective as it does not target the ill-informed people who usually do not watch the news in the first place. A better solution would be to conduct viral campaign on social media platforms to target these social media savvy people, and another solution would be to have seminars in schools and community centres.

The first solution which is to conduct viral campaign’s on social media sites is to target these social media savvy people who are spreading the false rumours in the first place. One way is to create a very interesting video maybe featuring some of the popular artiste from the music industry talking about the true nature of the Ebola virus. A very good example can be seen from Singapore’s ‘Sar-Vivor Rap’ by the iconic Singapore drama character Pua Chu Kang in 2003. The ‘Sar-Vivor Rap’ managed to squeeze all the important information into a 4 minute rap which was humorous and catchy. Before we know it, it became an internet sensation in Singapore, you could even see children singing to that song while you walk down the streets of orchard road. Just by this example you could see the effects of a social media viral campaign, and which at that time was more effective than any public announcement the Singapore government could give.

Another solution would be to have seminars in schools and community centres around the country by giving talks in school and community centres, the people who are in these institutions cannot just leave half way through the seminar, thus the officials are able to bring across their point which is the true nature of the Ebola virus. Another benefit of this arrangement is that the people in these institutions could ask questions on the virus, thus debunking and putting a halt on the many speculations and rumours surrounding the virus once and for all. And when the students and the members of the community centres return home, they could give their families a rundown of the virus. By doing so the seminar is able to reach further than just the students or members of the community centres, making it an economical solution to the problem.

Although the problem faced by the White House and the CDC looks tough were by the rumours are spreading like wild fire on the social media platforms fuelling the fear caused by the virus. However, By taking on some unorthodox method such as conducting a viral social media campaign to spread the correct information and having seminars in schools and community centres, it could help disperse the vast amount of speculations and rumours that surround the virus and in turn showing the public that the Ebola virus is not as fearful as described in the rumours.

Reference:

Why Fear Spreads Faster Than Facts on Social Media by James Mulvey 2015 http://blog.hootsuite.com/citizen-engagement-crisis-management-on-social-media/

White House, health officials try to calm a terrified public over Ebola outbreak fears by Adam Edelman 2014: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/white-house-health-officials-calm-terrified-public-ebola-outbreak-fears-article-1.1963948

WHO health sheet on the Ebola virus: http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs103/en/