No More Panic
photo courtesy of unsplash / tiffany tertipes
With the year we’ve endured, it’s no surprise that people all over the country are wary of election results. Panic set in months ago, when the pandemic first began to force stay-at-home restrictions and chaos, but the intensity of panic has culminated as it was supposedly leaked that “If Biden wins the election, there are people out there planning on mass-murdering POC and LGBTQ+ people.”
Social media is the biggest perpetrator of this frantic anticipation of a purge-esque environment, which makes it difficult to deduct which anxious posts are genuine and which are merely for the sake of likes. Instagram and TikTok have been especially pervaded with this content. Since these platforms are specifically targeted towards younger generations, it is even more difficult to decide the meaning of the original message. This leaves us with the question: Is this post-election panic a further reason to retreat into the reclusive life that COVID-19 normalized? Or is this just a fear-mongering tactic posed by users on platforms like Instagram and TikTok?
There is sanity behind these seemingly insane thoughts. With D.C. storefronts boarded up in anticipation of election day, it is reasonable to draw the conclusion that violence is planned and expected. As well as, the vernacular that our now Lame Duck President serves as a way to ignite fear. This issue is especially prevalent on Twitter, Trump tweeted: "Looting leads to shooting, and that's why a man was shot and killed in Minneapolis on Wednesday night - or look at what just happened in Louisville with 7 people shot.” After four years of statements inducing violent imagery by Trump — which has made it seemingly acceptable for others to hold these views — it is realistic to consider this as directly correlated to the country-wide panic.
There has been an especially large amount of warning videos on TikTok. @lenetheweeb posted a video with the audio “Public Service announcement, do not skip this… if Biden wins the election there are Trump supporters, KKK members, white supremacists, who are planning to mass murder POC and LGBTQ+ people. Please stay inside tomorrow because the election is tomorrow…It is not a theory, there have been leaked screenshots of group chats.”
According to POLITIFACT, this began as an attempt to prevent individuals from voting and believes that the post “originated on Snapchat and TikTok before moving to Twitter just after midnight on Nov. 2.” Disinformation officials also believe that the messages were created by teenagers.
It is most probable that the majority of social media users (especially on Instagram and TikTok) are sharing this post in an effort to warn individuals of potential danger. Since both POCs and LGBTQ+ individuals have been subjected to hate crimes, it is not paranoia that causes posts like these to spread like wildfire. Instead, paranoia arises from a long history of crime— including the murder of George Floyd and many other Black individuals over the summer, committed by very people that are supposed to ensure our wellbeing and safety.
The post urges individuals to hide out of fear of the thought of threat. No one should have to hide because others have a warped sense of morality; conforming to what some believe as the ‘social norm’ is the same as giving up. Always be vigilant and if you believe yourself to be in an unsafe situation, then you should get out. But we do not believe that staying in your house and hiding, after Biden’s victory is the answer. There will unfortunately always be people who feel that they are superior to others, but hiding leaves no one to knock them down a much-needed peg.