There are some things you read that have such an impact, you never forget them. The short story “Let’s go to Golgotha” is one such for me.
In a future where backwards time-travel is possible, tourists can visit historical events. Those visiting the Crucifixion are warned very strictly that they must do nothing to disturb recorded history, and when Pilate asks whom he should free, they must call “Give us Barabbas!” When it comes to the actual event, the protagonist realises that the crowd is entirely composed of tourists doing what they were told to do, and that none of Jesus’ contemporaries are there at all.
Social media replicates this well. If you’re on Twitter to “do marketing” and you have 5,000 followers, how many of them are there to “do marketing” too? Are any of them your customers, or even your target market? If you’re not listening to anyone, is anyone listening to you? Big numbers aren’t everything.
Image credit: Wikimedia Commons
