The digital era: When social media does more harm than a virus

Real news: The plethora of fake news stories online has prompted the Malaysian Health Ministry to issue a tweet explicitly denying that sufferers display ‘zombie-like’ behaviour. — Twitter/@KKMPutrajaya

I HAVE news for you. But sit down first. I don’t want you to faint. There are arguably “two” corona-viruses out there. Two, not one. And the second can turn adults into idiots – let’s call it the “moron strain”.

But first, the flu itself, ie, the “novel coronavirus”, which emanated from Wuhan in China and is fatal for some – just over 2% of those infected at the time of writing. As far as I can understand, the symptoms are like those of a normal flu: fever, coughs and shortness of breath. But in the worst-case scenario, it can lead to pneumonia and acute respiratory distress.

Conversely, what I call the “moron strain” has created a global, social media-driven panic that is in turn feeding on itself. Basically, it’s as if a million smartphone-wielding zombies are infecting scores more every nanosecond.