Following on from this post (which was copied by the Daily Maverick here – thanks TA), I have further bad news regarding the intelligence of the local social media populace.
Quite why user @loyalty_0111 chose to share this image, I don’t know. People like to share things,and that’s fine. But then to caption it “Gauteng oil field”?!?
wut?
Anyway, that’s not the real problem here. The real problem becomes evident when looking at the replies to the tweet.
Because half of them think that this is an image of a genuine Gauteng oil field.
This despite the fact that Gauteng is very, very landlocked.
This is not a new thing: it’s fairly well accepted that Gauteng has always been landlocked. .
The image is actually one of the Draugen Oil Field in the North Sea, just off Norway. By all accounts, this is an engineering marvel. And while I’m not saying that SA engineers are not also incredible, they have yet to bring the sea to Gauteng.
But – again – this is social media “informing” the younger (voting) population. And them lapping it up, despite the clear and obvious red flags.
We are doomed.