Mean 'Ween

Last week, residents of Boerum Hill, Brooklyn, woke to find a Halloween display like no other – an extreme pumpkin display depicting mutilated baby dolls and a centerpiece of a ghoulish pumpkin surgeon operating on one of them.  The person responsible has been doing an extreme pumpkin display for many years with residents looking forward to it each year.  But this year’s display ignited some controversy as it became fodder for local television news and newspapers.

It also, so happens, that the person responsible is a friend of mine, someone I used to work for many years ago.  So, I’ve had the privilege of following her experience via my connection to her on Facebook.  What has been most interesting to me throughout has been how comments seek to understand the “meaning” of the display.  She has alternately been accused of hating kids, being satanic, being Banksy and “revealed” as an anti-abortion soap opera actress all in an attempt to figure out the rationale behind the display.

For organizations, there is a lesson to be learned in this controversy.  There is an inherent drive in the viral nature of social media to make meaning out of things that catch our attention.  Messages will be interpreted, re-interpreted and misinterpreted across potentially thousands of people sometimes in as short a time as a few hours.  This illustrates the crucial nature of communication strategy and communication expertise within organizations.

The controversy also demonstrates the continuing power of television.  As discussed in class, social media can be instrumental in the delivery and interpretation of messages, and in having an impact across culture as a result.  But here, as in many other instances, television is the catalyst, acting as a gatekeeper in deciding what will be covered and what will not.  Once the coverage happens, then social media expands the story for good or ill.  But organizations should not lose sight of television’s power to shape and influence public attention and opinion.