Social networks such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter are often a big help in amplifying very small and common things. Most social networks offer a share button, and after you click on the Share button after viewing the content, you will be spread over the network to the world. In this process, very ordinary content becomes widely known and popular.
Sometimes, on social network, a small good deed become a beautiful story shared by millions of people. And just one trivial and careless behavior may attracting the wrath of millions of people.
There was a famous tree called “Broccoli Tree” in Sweden. You can see how much the social network has a big impact and how much negative influence it has on the videos introduced by the YouTube channel vlogbrothers.
“Broccoli Tree” was an ordinary tree standing on a lake. Maybe it was just a common tree on my way to work. It was similar to broccoli and called “broccoli tree”.
One day in spring 2013, someone shoots this broccoli tree and puts it on Instagram.
This first photo in the Instagram received 43 “Likes”. It was just a common tree on the lake.
Since then, this tree has been uploaded to the Instagram with photos of various times and seasons. In November 2013, it received more 107 “Likes”.
Since April 2014, someone has started to upload broccoli trees every week with an account called “thebroccolitree” in the Instagram. Since then more people have come to know broccoli trees. someone gathered photographs of broccoli trees and held “Broccoli Photo Exhibition”.
Since then professional photographers have taken beautiful pictures to share with social networks and the popularity of broccoli trees explodes. Beginning in 2016, tourists began to visit this tree to actually see the tree. It has become so popular that it comes out when you search a “broccoli tree” on Google Maps.
The instagram follower of “thebroccolitree” soon became 27,000 and the number of “Likes” increased to thousands. A very ordinary tree became the most famous tree on the Internet with the sharing and interest of millions of people.
But unfortunately now there is no broccoli tree. Someone has secretly cut this tree. I do not know why this broccoli tree was cut. Maybe it was unfortunate for this broccoli tree that it became the most famous tree on the Internet.
In fact, this happens frequently on the Internet. When I upload a picture of someone I took without consent, someone could suffer a great deal of pain. Of course someone can get great popularity, but I do not know if that’s what someone really wanted. Even though I did not intend, someone I share could be hurt by the photos I share.
In <The Secret Life of Walter Mitty>, photographer Sean waits a long time to shoot a snow leopard. And when the snow leopard finally appears he does not press the shutter. Instead, He say this.
“Sometimes I do not shoot. I do not want to be disturbed by the camera when a beautiful moment comes. I just want to stay in that moment.”