In May 2017, thousands of people watching the news were shocked by the story of Fyre Festival and the surprising downhill turn it took. Luxury music festival turned barbaric. Purchasers of this false festival were in an uproar. Most of them went without food or water for over ten hours, their things were stolen, and there is no promise of a refund for this expensive disaster. Fyre Festival exemplifies how easily manipulated young adults are to social media propaganda.
If you haven't watched the recent documentary on the Fyre Festival, you should.
Extravagant video promotions, the best marketing teams across the Nation, and several hundred Instagram influencers convinced thousands of young adults into purchasing tickets to a music festival that never happened. These tickets ranged from $500-$1500 with exclusive packages being as expensive as $12,000. Not only that, but wristbands cost up to $8000.
While participants were promised an exotic regal experience, what they got was white tents and stale bread and cheese. The festival didn't even last twenty-four hours, and by the end of it all artists who originally were book pulled out.
The whole project was a complete scam, and millennials feel for it.
27-year-old Billy Mcfarland is an entrepreneurial and marketing genius, but even more so a master manipulator. He frauded investors into thinking that Fyre Media was making tons of money, while they weren't. Investors gave Billy millions of dollars that were supposed to go towards the festival.
The scary part of this disaster is that we believe what social media feeds us.
If a famous Instagrammer posts something about a product, we suddenly go out and purchase it without questioning anything further. Fyre Festival is not that first company to steal money from consumers. Even 50 years ago door to door salesmen would convince people to buy things that would never show up to their door. It is just easier now with technology for fake news to spread.
The biggest concern is our unawareness of how to detect truth from fallacies. Many are quick to make assumptions based on what they see on media blurbs. With fake news being shouted at us from all directions, it is hard to tell which is the truth. Maybe one day we will have a healthier relationship with technology and the truth, but until then I won't believe anything until I see it.
