By Jill Muraski
 |
| Some of the current alternative “agencies” |
You’ve heard of alternative facts, now get ready for Alternative National Parks.
Following the inauguration of President Donald Trump in January, the National Parks Service provided a photo that compared the size of the crowd at Trump’s inauguration verses Obama’s. The National Parks Service also began to post information about climate change and other issues that have been debated about in office, on various Twitter pages. According to Thinkprogress’ website, they were ordered by Washington “to immediately cease use of government Twitter accounts until further notice.” NPR cited that the announcement was an attempt to help limit what information was being released by the government agencies, especially on social media platforms. However, it did not achieve its intended effect.
Shortly after the announcement, the Badlands National Park created a new Twitter account and began to retweet more information about climate change. Soon after, however, the tweets were removed and the employees at the Badlands apologized, stating that it was a former employee who posted the tweets. This did not, however, end the outcry over climate change, but led to a whole new beginning.
Since the incident with the Badlands account, many parody accounts have popped up. They’ve begun to retweet more information about government policies with many urging users to “#resist.”
It’s still unclear who is running the accounts. Some say that they have no affiliation with the verified agencies, while others have chosen not to say anything at all. Despite this, these people sure are making waves. The Alternative National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration already has over 100,000 followers.
The future of these accounts seem to be safe, as there aren’t many connections between them and the agencies themselves. But, as wild as this year has been so far, it’s anyone’s guess as to what will happen with them.
Following the inauguration of President Donald Trump in January, the National Parks Service provided a photo that compared the size of the crowd at Trump’s inauguration verses Obama’s. The National Parks Service also began to post information about climate change and other issues that have been debated about in office, on various Twitter pages. According to Thinkprogress’ website, they were ordered by Washington “to immediately cease use of government Twitter accounts until further notice.” NPR cited that the announcement was an attempt to help limit what information was being released by the government agencies, especially on social media platforms. However, it did not achieve its intended effect.
 |
| The picture provided by the NPS |
Since the incident with the Badlands account, many parody accounts have popped up. They’ve begun to retweet more information about government policies with many urging users to “#resist.”
It’s still unclear who is running the accounts. Some say that they have no affiliation with the verified agencies, while others have chosen not to say anything at all. Despite this, these people sure are making waves. The Alternative National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration already has over 100,000 followers.
The future of these accounts seem to be safe, as there aren’t many connections between them and the agencies themselves. But, as wild as this year has been so far, it’s anyone’s guess as to what will happen with them.
Top photo courtesy of twitter.com / thingprogress.org, bottom image courtesy of thinkprogress.org
0 comments :
Post a Comment