Whatsapp Co(ka)rona!
My general rule of Whatsapp is the Indian penal code rule which was innocent until proven guilty!
If it is a Whatsapp forward then it is false until proven true!
In the days of lockdown, people have only two major company whihc transcends all Barriers! One is the Television and the other is the mobile! Both of them now mostly depend on the internet so that becomes the lifeline!
After the work of the day is done, all that is left is to guage the current situation and pick up your phone to Whatsapp!
In Corona it started with jokes on the Virus, or China or lockdown as such! So you have your regular Virus and China jokes followed by husband wife jokes which frankly in the days of gender neutralality feels dated! Then you have a list of boredom killing games or web sites or skills to learn! My wife has taken to tik tok to learn quick snacks which is easy to make and ready to eat! Many still see videos of street food and think those were the days!
After the jokes you get the forwards which are two broad type! One is to scare you about Corona and the other gives hope or even a cure!
The scary ones will feature some patient gasping for breath (which was proved to be fake!) Or some inner video stolen from national geo or some other site showing the animal market in China! One video will talk of doomsday prophecies while many forwards will be of some book or the other where such a pandemic was mentioned! Notable was Dean Koontz’s book! With so many books being written about conspiracy theories, the law of statistics is that some of it will get true!
There’s a serial in Netflix which even mentions Corona being a Bio weapon! Talk about weird coincidence!
Another forward talks about the role of America in the generation of Corona!
Then you have a big forward telling how the whole Corona problem is the China trying to become a super power!
Finally you have messages with some statistics which make them look genuine but they are still fake! These include why death is more in some place or how some country is hiding death and the real situation!
While the overall negative but supposedly serious messages are plenty, you also have some misquided positive messages which are even more dangerous!
One message starts with the name of a real famous Doctor and gives many technical terms but ends up with telling that Tea is the treatment for Corona! Am sure many other home remedies are getting thrown in the treatment pit! You have some clove water or honey water or some turmeric milk or even copper vessel!
Some messages will be how that the people infected are so many but the death rate is so less so don’t worry! But I guess it’s better to err on the side of caution!
Then you have medical forwards with links which look so genuine telling how drugs like HCQ or Oseltamivir or anti HIV drugs are like the treatment of choice! Or how drugs like Ibuprofen and Azithromycin may cause problems! Or how getting BCG vaccination protects you!
All these have to be taken with lots of caution and make sure that you consult a health professional before taking the leap which can be very dangerous!
You also have a deluge of neutral messages like how you have to be clean, or a glorification of Hindu tradition of namaste or japanese tradition of Bow! How not your diet habits have either saved or caused you in trouble! How to pass time using the net or how to learn skills during the lockdown!
In times of shortage of masks you have a ton of videos telling how to make home made masks or how to improve the mask quality! Or how to get great deals on mask!
Also you have many financial advisors who will give you advice on money matters! These are forwards which do not have to be true or false! They are neutral! In times like this, these are the best forwards!
Then there are a group of massages which look like they are helping but in fact are causing more problems! Like how world is going to shut so rush to the shopping mall! Or to the petrol pump or a medicine is effective in COVID so rush to the store!
This was the main reason why people had rush in the shops, why no masks are available even for medical personnels and no sanitizers to boot! I also get messages how one particular shop is going to open only for some time with limited stock! You can imagine the rumble it may have caused!
Then you have lots of messages supporting the lockdown or the clapping of hands or social distancing which all start well but many times end in some Voo doo whimper!
Read them for fun but don’t take them seriously!
In fact, don’t take any Whatsapp message seriously! Read, enjoy and delete! But please think ten times before you forward!
These simple tips can help you!
1. Don’t believe any Whatsapp forward! It is false until in very rare condition proven true!
2. Don’t forward without checking at least once if the message looks genuine or at least written by a human and not someone who has just taken some drugs!
3. Try to make your own message with good sources and send only if you have something new or different to add!
4. Do not forward controversial messages especially the ones with doomsday prophecies!
5. Everyone has TV so if Tom Hanks has got COVID believe me that everyone knows!
6. If there is a new treatment strategy then it will be known to the health professionals and to WHO since no other protocol can be followed without getting into trouble!
7. Finally understand that Whatsapp and FB are only for entertainment and not for information!
It’s more important now to clean your house, cook and take care of your kids and parents. And most importantly stay at home!
You can forward this one though!!
ramadocblog 