Last year, a website named the City of Dillon as the Most Dangerous City in South Carolina. While some questioned the designation and what factors played into it, many didn’t. Many failed to ask the important questions they should have asked about the designation or failed to ask any questions at all.
Instead, many people were instantly attracted to this sensational “news” and were quick to share this news on social media without giving it a second thought. The internet has opened up a whole new avenue for those who are looking to find out more about our city and our county.
These may be people who want to locate a business or industry here or who want to locate here for some other readon. When they see this type of designation and they see the city and the county’s citizens wildly sharing negative posts about our own area, what impression does that give? We need to give more thought to what we share and who is seeing it.
Interestingly, the City of Dillon was not number one this year. The city didn’t even make the list. Doesn’t that give pause to how actually valid the ranking was last year? Even though the city didn’t make the list this year, we will see very little said or shared about this.
The next time we see a survey or a poll that puts our city in a negative light, we should think about it, question it, and hesitate to share it until we know more about it, exactly what is behind it, exactly what it is based on, and where it originated. We should consider the price we are paying by sharing it.
It should take more than “Friday night science” to make us sell out our city for sensationalism.