Hurricane Ian showing the worst of social media

First, there's an "influencer" asking for help for her family in Fort Myers. 

I did count, if not to 10, at least to 7 before offering the following quote tweet, which I then counted to 10 before posting here, rather than just copying my original quote tweet text and pasting, because context is needed.

This tweet about family in Fort Myers? Sorry, but it reminds me somewhat of the old joke about a guy praying for rescue from a flood, then refusing to get in the rowboat, motorboat and helicopter because "god is going to rescue them." https://t.co/xFsIMNaXBK

— TheRealSocraticGadfly (@real_gadfly) September 29, 2022

She responded.

I did not respond back.

Instead, I offer this two-tweet thread of:

I'm not going to quote-tweet myself or person who responded to my quote tweet. I'm just saying there are surely plenty of other people in Fort Myers who had no more time to prepare, but don't have "influencer" relatives asking for help or prayers for them. OR tagging Fox News.

— TheRealSocraticGadfly (@real_gadfly) September 29, 2022

And, by influencer, this link on her Twitter bio should say enough.  (Well, not quite. See below.)

Looking through her feed (surprisingly, she didn't block me) she tags ABC in another tweet, then four or five presumably local meteorologists in another. So, my reaction to seeing Fox tagged in particular may have been overblown, but ...

So, the second tweet:

Of course, that's part of the problem of Twitter in general. Help MY relatives in a natural disaster. Help ME with medical needs. And the people who are lucky to have more followers move to the front of the pack.
With VERY rare *possible* exception, if I haven't met u in person?

— TheRealSocraticGadfly (@real_gadfly) September 29, 2022

There's plenty of others out there asking for help for their relatives, even if not "thoughts and prayers." Not all of them may be at-ting local TV stations and meteorologists in their callouts, but nonetheless. 

And, maybe her relatives in Naples ran out of time (though the warning that Ian was shifting further south came a full 24 hours or so before landfall), the lady herself had time to keep hawking earlier in the week:

If there’s anything you need during a storm, it’s these lightbulbs! They charge when on and when the power goes out they stay on. They also have little hooks to hang them around the house! #TropicalStormIan https://t.co/a22XomMcyx

My review: https://t.co/LaW1IO4mi6

— Kelly Bazzle (@KellyBazzle) September 25, 2022

Oy. 

To extend some humaste to her, her husband is in the Florida National Guard and has been called up. I hope he and the rest of your family are safe, Kelly. To ask you to extend the humaste back? Ask for help for some rando on Twitter and do so without offering to sell them something from Amazon, after Naples settles down in a month. And, next time a hurricane is going to hit Floriduh, if I see you hawking influencer shit, I'll report you.

Here's another, not an influencer, but:

Called @LeeEOC to make sure that my mom is on the rescue list. She is on Egret Street on Fort Myers Beach at the south end of the Island. She is 78 years old & I have not heard from her in almost 3 hours. Her car and house are under water. @NBC2 @winknews @ABC7SWFL

I need help.

— Beth #GetCaroleHome (@itsbethbooker) September 28, 2022

Oh, she lives in Naples herself. Why didn't you have your 78-year-old mom with you, Beth? 

And, actually, if you're a CEO of two different (boutique, I presume) PR firms? And, running an Amazon store, per your website? No, you're an influencer, too.

I've never been in a hurricane, but 19 months ago, I slept in my office for two nights during Winter Storm Uri because intermittent electricity there was better than none at home.

As for the rhetorical question? On people asking for medical help, as in fundraising for bills? Seriously? If I don't know you in person, or have a strong, and personal, online connection to you (like the late Leo Lincourt as an example) I'm not giving you money. Nor (per the person I quote tweeted having 80x more followers than me and about 10x more following) am I going to want to watch someone like you  move to the front of the social media herd.

And, that second tweet of the above pair of tweets leads to:

Naples Fire-Rescue Department posted a Facebook live of the flooding. pic.twitter.com/gq2J9MS3Co

— Lydia Nusbaum (@LydiaNusbaum) September 28, 2022

And, that's enough.

On that one? What if one of the firefighters drops a tool in the storm surge waters? Will we get to see that? Oh, also, what's the guy or gal who's doing the live video doing? Obviously NOT helping unload the half-submerged fire truck.

And, there's the exhibitionism of people swimming in the storm surge, which I'm not even going to post. 

That said, I reported to Twitter a couple of people posting the fake shark bullshit.