From Ducati Unboxing Incident At WSBK To The Destruction Of Vanessa Angel's Tomb: Content Creation Went Too Far

JAKARTA - The illegal dismantling of a Ducati motorcycle cargo box ahead of the WSBK World Championship at the Mandalika Circuit, NTB along with its unboxing video content has caught the public's attention. At almost the same time, the news of the destruction of the grave of the late Vanessa Angel due to being used as content by many people also became a conversation. This is like showing the passion of many content creators no longer prioritizing reason and not paying attention to ethics.

Early Thursday 11 November, the leading motorsport media Speedweek leaked videos and photos of a person suspected of being the local organizer of the Mandalika Grand Prix Association (MGPA) when he opened a Ducati cargo box and "checked" motorcycle number 21 owned by Michael Rinaldi.

According to regulations, cargo and logistics team crates may only be opened by Customs and Excise or the team itself. It aims to prevent manipulation and espionage from other camps. No doubt it was reported to invite the anger of the Ducati.

Suddenly, the video which was also spread on Facebook and Youtube was also widely discussed by netizens. They are worried that the incident will undermine Indonesia's credibility in rolling out an event like the WSBK World Championship. Moreover, WSBK Mandalika is attracting attention because it is the final series and the determinant of the 2021 WSBK World Championship.

Sometime after the video circulated on social media, a Youtuber named "Soul Kuta Lombok" claimed to be the party who uploaded the video. He said that when the picture was taken, the motorbike was already in an open condition.

"The motorbike was unboxed by customs to check the completeness of the documents," he wrote, apologizing. "I was wrong to have videoed the checking process ... thank you for reminding and giving a very valuable lesson in my life. I really didn't know this should not be published."

At almost the same time, a commotion because people made content occurred at the grave of the late celebrity Vanessa Angel and her husband, Bibi Ardiansyah. The video of the destruction of the tomb has gone viral on social media.

Vanessa and Bibi's graves were damaged after several people made the tomb located at the Malacca Islamic TPU to create content. Based on the video uploaded to the Instagram account @trizhata, it looks like the flowers in the tomb are in disarray and the condition is much different from before.

When Vanessa's in-laws visited on Monday, November 8, as quoted by Okezone, Bibi's mother asked about the whereabouts of Vanessa's photo which was not seen at the funeral, and the damage to her photo. "Where's Vanessa's photo? I thought this morning it was there," asked Dewi Zuliati, the mother of the late Bibi. "Probably taken by fans," a visitor replied.

It is known that five days after the death of Vanessa Angel and Bibi, the graves of both were crowded with pilgrims. Because it was getting out of control, the graves of the late Vanessa and Bibi were temporarily closed.

For the sake of content

Today, the benefits of social media development are increasingly inclusive. Now, anyone can easily become an impromptu artist just from an upload of viral video content. The emergence of platforms ranging from Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, to TikTok, opens up great opportunities for us to gain popularity.

According to the We Are Social 2020 report, the average Indonesian access social media for 3 hours 26 minutes per day. The data shows that social media has become a mandatory item in our lives. Maybe we will feel strange if we miss news or information that is viral in cyberspace. This feeling is then called the fear of missing out (FOMO).

The viral content is because many people talk about it and share it with other users until the content is spread to various social media channels, even being picked up by national television stations. This phenomenon, according to the official website of Universitas Airlangga Surabaya, is referred to as online sharing behavior.

"It is not surprising when we share content online, we have played a role in making the content spread by word of mouth through social media or commonly known as E-WOM (Electronic Word-of-Mouth). E-WOM has a chain effect like a virus that infects one person to another that makes the content go viral," wrote the Unair page. What's the reason?

The results of a study by The New York Times, Customer Insight Group, and Latitude Research in 2020 found that psychologically there are five (5) factors that make users share content on social media. First, content that is considered valuable, enlightening, and entertaining.

Second, content that reinforces and actualizes itself. Third, content that can connect with a group. Fourth, content that can gain recognition from others. And fifth, content that can support something that many people are fighting for or a brand they love.

Maybe because of the ease of getting publicity and popularity due to technological developments, people are competing to create viral content. The desire of people to get engagement is also increasing.

Side effects of technological developments

Everyone already knows that the development of information technology is now so fast. In the past, people who could disseminate information in the public sphere were only those with capital and power, with the presence of social media, now almost anyone can do that.

The development of information technology until this moment even continues to evolve. In the past, people needed big capital, and competed madly to become public figures, now with the development of social media platforms, a person can suddenly become a famous person in just a matter of days or even hours.

The development of the media industry is now no longer exclusive only to people with big capital. Today, everyone can easily create their own media with just a smartphone.

But unfortunately, the development of this technology is not without side effects. Technology is indeed able to increase our sensory abilities to speak, hear, and see, but it will never be able to increase the ability of human reason and emotion. This argument was explained by Professor Emeritus of Monash University, Ariel Heryanto in a discussion entitled "Why Do We Hate?"

Ariel explained that technology is actually a tool to clarify and extend the capabilities of the five human senses. The development of digital media is no exception.

"Technology is just a tool to clarify, extend, the ability of the five human senses. Cars extend the ability of our feet, my glasses extend the ability of my eyes to see. Digital media does the same. It extends people's ability to hear, speak, and so on," said Ariel is quoted from a video uploaded to the Jakartanicus Youtube account.

But unfortunately, Ariel said, although technology often enhances our sensory abilities, it will never balance our emotional and reasoning abilities. "Unfortunately, this technology often enlarges our sensory abilities, but will never equalize increasing our emotional and reasoning abilities."

"[Technology developments] are enhanced with senses, so we can see, sound, and hear a lot more than we used to, but we're not ready to hear and see what we can then see... But technology, often doesn't give us a break So we can see more, hear more, and that surprises us, I think," added Ariel.

Ariel Heryanto's explanation is clearly proven when he looks in the mirror from the two examples of the Ducati "unboxing" case at the Mandalika Circuit and the grave of Vanessa Angel, which looks like he doesn't care about ethics. Technological developments can indeed make us gain popularity with shortcuts. But technological developments will not be able to balance our emotions and reasoning.

*Read other information about VIRAL or read other interesting articles from Ramdan Febrian Arifin.

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