Cesspit Trolls
I was flipping through TV channels earlier today and stopped for a moment on an interview with Kathy Griffin. For those of you that don’t remember, Griffin is the alleged comedian that in 2017 decided it would be funny to have a picture taken of her with the mock, bloody, decapitated head, of President Trump. I changed the channel.
There is a saying in the media that all publicity is good publicity. Well, before her 2017 stunt, I had never heard of Kathy Griffin, but her name is now fixed in my mind along with the image of her holding that blood-covered prop. So, I know her name and recall her face, but in what universe is a severed head funny? President Trump called it “sick,” and I agree with him.”
I didn’t like the policies of President Barack Obama but, it never occurred to me that pretending to kill the man would be useful or funny. My opinion hasn’t changed with the election of Biden. Since that display of poor taste, I’ve done a good job of not thinking about Griffin.
However, after my recent reminder that she does exist, I did a little online and social media checking on her. I discovered she did a television special called Kathy Griffin: Straight to Hell. This tells me a lot about her and the state of television today.
If Griffin hadn’t done that awful stunt, I probably still wouldn’t know her name. That thought made me wonder how many “famous” people exist online that I’m unaware of. I found a list of the top fifty of social media. The number one person is Cristiano Ronaldo. Never heard of him. The second person is Justin Bieber. I’m trying to forget everything I know about him. I know the names of the next three, but that’s about it. Number six is Dwayne Johnson. I’ve enjoyed several of his movies and know that he was a wrestler, but little else. The rest of the top ten are just names to me. I would not consider any of the people to be role models so, why should they be influencers? According to Trackalytics, Kathy Griffin has over two million Twitter followers and is not on the top fifty list. That does not induce me to delve deeper into social media.
Today, social media may be a necessary tool for business. I do use it but, I never do anything with the hope of going viral. Also, I won’t be doing any tasteless stunts and, if I ever do become a social media influencer, I pray to God that it is for making choices that are good for my family and my country.
