Why fake footage hurts.

D B Sweeney · Posted: Thu Sep 08, 2011 12:50 am Post subject: Why fake footage hurts.

YouTube, it's a great source of entertainment that attracts the weird, the talented and those desperate for attention, recognition and approval. Tens of thousands of video clips claim to show show ghosts, bigfoot, UFOs, aliens, lake monsters and poltergeist activity which going by their sheer number would suggest that the planet is positively teeming with strange creatures, ET's and beings from beyond. But we know from experience that is just not the case. Most of us don't have much regular contact with 'the paranormal' unless we perceive every light in the sky, every shadow on a wall or every bump in the night as proof that we're 'not alone'. The majority of clips that claim to show 'the paranormal' are quite obviously fakes that don't take a forensic digital analysis to see that they are poorly executed, deliberate attempts to hoodwink the viewer. In recent years YouTube has attracted highly competent digital production experts who post some very professional composite images - again purporting to show paranormal activity which appears literally 'too good to be true' and often is.
Is there anything inherently wrong with creating a fake ghost, ufo, Bigfoot and passing it off to the world as the real deal?, "Where's the harm?" some will say.
Passing off fake footage harms the serious researchers who have devoted years and sometimes entire careers to serious study. By posting visual lies the water is muddied and the work of the serious researcher is made more difficult because there is more chaff than wheat - ambiguous footage can throw researchers off on a wild goose chase, diverting their efforts from cases that are genuine much like a psychic whose 'insights' are taken seriously by the Police can hinder a murder or kidnap investigation. Fake YouTube videos also contribute and shore up the pseudoscientific, irrational and downright cooky beliefs of those that sit at the very fringes of reasonable debate (we've all seen them on the forums) - adding fuel to their illogical, unsupported and often downright bizarre claims.
Fabricated footage which is passed off as genuine harms the impressionable - children, teenagers and those with limited cognitive abilities who may not be able to make a distinction between what is real and what is not. I know from experience that so called 'ghost/demon' videos posted online have had adverse effects on both children and vulnerable people with fragile mental states. Then again I've seen people genuinely disturbed by certain passages in the bible, news footage, movies and some of the 'acts' on the X-Factor.
Creativity, story telling and fantasy are fine - YouTube is a great way to share our visual creative skills as long as we take some responsibility for the consequences of what we put online and don't make a point of claiming something is genuine when we know full well it's the product of wires, lights, costumes, models and digital manipulation.
It harms the truth, it sidetracks serious research, it damages credibility and maintains the perception that anyone who believes in the paranormal is a bit weird, it adversely affects beliefs, it negatively influences the vulnerable and it probably helps any clandestine agencies who, like Karl Marx, regard such people as 'useful idiots'.

DB

thecactus · Joined: 07 Mar 2011 Posts: 3196 Location: Northern Ireland

I agree

flossy · Posted: Thu Sep 08, 2011 11:33 am Post subject:

very well said DB Wink

bitterbuck1 · Posted: Fri Sep 09, 2011 6:18 am Post subject:

I concur.

Iain Lawrence · Joined: 16 Sep 2010 Posts: 419

..................

thecactus · Joined: 07 Mar 2011 Posts: 3196 Location: Northern Ireland

Iain Lawrence, I agreed that people who purposefully fake footage and pass it off as real is bad, but I don't believe that is what you do by investigating and posting the footage.

Iain Lawrence · Joined: 16 Sep 2010 Posts: 419

A paranormal forum which stands in judgment of what is paranormal and what is not.
People put footage of all kinds on youtube, some rubbish/some good. But to take away the freedom of the subject through objective interaction verbaly is VERY wrong. People have to learn what is real and what is rubbish, its part of the structure of learning. Without the crap, people would not know what is real.
I stand for free input of information.
For availablity of media of all kinds
and the choices of everyone to apply there own oppinions to that information without input from people who appear to see there selves as
special and in a position to judge.
I have never judged a piece of media, I merely observe-apply my own theoretics-take what is available to me-walk away. If you can't be pro-active, don't be active.
I'm outa here.

flossy · Posted: Mon Sep 12, 2011 12:51 am Post subject:

D B Sweeney · Posted: Mon Sep 12, 2011 12:51 am Post subject:

thecactus · Joined: 07 Mar 2011 Posts: 3196 Location: Northern Ireland

flossy, cheers Very Happy

Hows it going flossy - what are you at these days?

bitterbuck1 · Posted: Mon Sep 12, 2011 4:34 am Post subject:

flossy · Posted: Mon Sep 12, 2011 7:46 am Post subject:

thecactus · Joined: 07 Mar 2011 Posts: 3196 Location: Northern Ireland

I can't complain either Very Happy

bitterbuck1 · Posted: Mon Sep 12, 2011 12:38 pm Post subject:

D B Sweeney · Posted: Tue Sep 13, 2011 7:30 am Post subject: