Ana Mara Olabuenaga took the stage at the 2023 Festival Iberoamrica to talk about digital lynchings on the first day of the event
What is the impact of digital lynchings? This was the question that permeated the conference led by Ana Mara Olabuenaga, a Mexican writer and publicist who is one of those honored by the Hall of Honor at the 2023 El Ojo de Iberoamérica Festival.
Throughout her speech, Ana presented data from her research on social networks and talked about her professional journey after selling her own agency to Publicis, in addition to sharing her views on human behavior on platforms.
Along with the book Digital Lynchings, written by her, the advertiser brought several facts that proved that social networks can cause harm and that no one is exempt from the risks of the digital universe.
To give an example, Ana told the story of Tiziana Cantone, a young Italian woman who was the victim of a digital lynching after an intimate video was leaked by her boyfriend and committed suicide. “This was the first social lynching. The sad thing is to know that the case began on March 5, 2016 and ended on September 12 with her suicide, explained Olabuenaga.
Among the data brought by the author, it was pointed out that Tiziana was mentioned more on the day of her death than on the day her video was leaked.
During the presentation, Ana stated that digital lynching goes in circles because, no matter how much the person apologizes for their speech or attitude, the case continues to be remembered and debated on social media, causing lynching to become constant, resulting in “death civil rights and loss of reputation”.
The publicist also brought cases that went from the digital world to the real world, such as the invasion of the Capitol (USA), in January 2021. According to her, the American anti-democratic act was the result of a “digital civil war”.
Networks are more important than we think, to the point that in 2006 Time magazine decided that we were ‘person of the year’ for having joined social networks, highlighted Ana.
Entering the advertising universe, she highlighted that every agency client is subject to going through “cancellation culture”, something that was born and is gaining more and more strength on social media, but that it is still necessary to insist on the work that connects people with brands .
Finally, Ana exempted social networks and digital algorithms from blame. “Indignation is fueled on social media by different topics and there will always be something to be indignant about, share and fuel the fire. Algorithms are not to blame for lynchings. We are”, she pointed out.
The researcher ended her presentation by pointing out the fact that there is no going back to what already happens on social networks, but one of the solutions is to find new civilization pacts, understand where the market is and where it is going, as well as means that make May people not end their lives like Tiziane.