ZDDK / Mimikama on Panorama (NDR/ARD)

At this point we would like to thank the NDR Panorama team, who accompanied us here in Vienna for two days and documented our work.

Fighting online against unknown disruptors, yes, that is part of our work. In this daily work we see a lot of untruths, a lot of misrepresented information and, in the end, a lot of truths that are difficult to recognize in the mix.

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Why this is all so important

We no longer live in the 80s or 90s of the last millennium.
We can and must no longer distinguish between the “real” and the “virtual” world, because we have now advanced to the point where both worlds have merged into one another. Reality dictates the virtual, the virtual affects reality. It has become one. But many people have not yet become aware of it. The power of social networks has long been laughed at, and even today many people ignore the content of Facebook, Twitter or WhatsApp at crucial points. But in doing so, they are placing themselves on the pedestal of a bygone era: politically, socially and also family-wise, we have reached a stage where social networks are a natural part of our communication.

Social media is not just a platform for self-promoters or people without friends, but is as important as making telephone calls. Perhaps social networks are currently in the process of replacing telephone calls and presenting themselves as the predominant form of communication. Messengers alone, whether WhatsApp, Snapchat or Facebook (and of course all the others) have of course increased the communication rate rapidly and the widespread availability of the Internet has meant that we can be reached on messengers and networks anytime and anywhere.

Networking in particular has changed, unfortunately often for the negative. Individual opinions have found their counterparts and have become loud. Secret voices that work against society scream out from anonymity and reach people they would otherwise never have reached, thus mobilizing destructive forces. Anger, hatred and violence are sown online and harvested in the streets.

These aspects in particular were ignored for a long time, but when the “uprising of the decent people” was called for, it was essentially already too late. Destructive forces were already on the offensive and simply shifted gears faster. Because they have learned: whoever claims something first always has the advantage on their side. The fake, the false report, simply because it is more dramatic, generally has a greater reach and unfortunately often has more staying power.

Of course, this only works if there is a certain fertile ground, if the recipient of the message has certain expectations.

It feels a bit like “bread and circuses”: whoever tells the biggest drama, the most absurd story, the most “violent” scandal will get the furthest with this status report. Unfortunately, not only private individuals noticed this, but unfortunately also media outlets. Publishers and newspapers use the Internet excessively and literally “shit” their content. Unfortunately you can't call it anything else.

We have lost a bit of information culture, precisely because many people are not familiar with the possibilities of social networks and because there is a certain level of media incompetence in many places.
Which is entirely understandable. The journalist and author Ingrid Brodnig recently compared the Internet and its culture of discussion with the early days of the automobile: we simply don't have any real airbags, no ESP or ABS at the moment.

We are of the same opinion and at this point we even go one step further: not only do we have a lack of safety and protection systems, but unfortunately we even have the ability to drive at high speeds from the start. We simply currently have the opportunity to hit the wall with 300 things. Without airbag or brake assistant.

We also have to deal with the damage because we don't have insurance either.
We are basically on our own. We only have a few rudimentary but effective security systems: our mind, our reason and, to a certain extent, our ethics. We simply have to use that and counteract what wants to manipulate us, what wants to shape us from human to inhuman. It is therefore not only important that we develop technical security systems, but also that we also adhere to traffic rules, i.e. rules for coexistence in networks and the Internet. We must never lose our “humanity”, we must never forget that there is also a human being on the other side of the monitor. A person who doesn't want to be lied to, a person who just wants to communicate.

And if a little bit of all the many words stuck with you, then we hope it's the realization that you don't always have to shout at the front, that you should check whether the information presented is correct, that you can just... The network should also behave as one would behave on the street. Respect, decency, sometimes a step away and, above all, a large dose of common sense are a good guide when navigating the internet and social media.