Even before he became president, Donald Trump was known for his unhindered use of Twitter. He and his many press secretaries have lauded the president’s frequently used and abused social media account as his way of connecting directly with the people, but if you scroll through his feed, it usually seems more like a venue for him to brag, bully people, and air his grievances. Oh, and lie a whole bunch.
Then there is Steak-umm, the anti-Trump Twitter account. And by “anti-Trump” I don’t mean against Trump, but rather the opposite of Trump. Instead of griping and sharing falsehoods that constantly need fact-checking while being the single biggest source of coronavirus misinformation, Steak-umm use their account to share helpful tips for avoiding misinformation in the midst of a confusing pandemic, to explain psychological concepts like “cognitive dissonance” and “dualism,” and to encourage people to really examine and think about things before sharing them.
In other words, Trump tweets conspiracy theories while Steak-umm tweets about how to not fall for conspiracy theories.
That’s right, this wisdom is coming from a frozen sliced steak brand. Welcome to 2020, y’all.
we live in a strange world where I’m sincerely urging you to follow @steak_umm, which consistently offers more thou… https://t.co/8kajvaJNk2— Jesse Lehrich (@Jesse Lehrich)1599849119.0
I mean, bestill my credible-information-and-verifiable-data-loving heart.
outliers attempting to counter global consensus around this pandemic with amateur reporting or unverified sourcing… https://t.co/7Kd5dNHa3v— Steak-umm (@Steak-umm)1586225170.0
all we currently have are limited and evolving metrics that experts are deciphering and acting upon immediately to… https://t.co/8MbNdRRZ6t— Steak-umm (@Steak-umm)1586225604.0
you can maintain independent, critical thinking toward institutions without dipping into fringe conspiracies that g… https://t.co/LxKOoF1uFk— Steak-umm (@Steak-umm)1586226243.0
This whole thread ^^ is worth reading. It’s pinned to the top of their Twitter page.
Meanwhile:
The USA doesn’t have Freedom of the Press, we have Suppression of the Story, or just plain Fake News. So much has b… https://t.co/3vhK5n2hFw— Donald J. Trump (@Donald J. Trump)1603902811.0
(Side note: The one and only thing POTUS and Steak-umm seem to share is a complete disregard for capitalization rules. Trump capitalizes words totally randomly, while Steak-umm capitalizes pretty much nothing. It’s a world gone mad, I say. As a former English teacher, this haphazard capitalizing is all just incredibly painful.)
Anyway, moving on…this tweet right here is 100% truth, as evidenced by every comment section on the internet:
if you:– confirm information is true before sharing
– read articles past the headlinesyou’re already more informed than most people
— Steak-umm (@Steak-umm)1603727379.0
Scientists have even taken notice of the company’s Twitter account as it tackles coronavirus misinformation.
the US is entering the next coronavirus spike, trending toward 70,000 new cases per day. take care of yourselves, b… https://t.co/vjNoAMllKO— Steak-umm (@Steak-umm)1603381409.0
Angela Rasmussen, a virologist at Columbia University in New York, is one of many infectious disease experts studying the coronavirus. She learned about Steak-umm’s tweets through an online group of fellow scientists.
“It’s really important that people are being informed and are able to look for good information themselves — but also to remember that we’re all going through this together, and we’re all human beings, and we’re all experiencing a really difficult time,” she told Business Insider. “It’s very unusual to see the corporate account for a brand of frozen processed meat sort of marrying those two concepts.”
But that’s exactly what Steak-umm does. While some of us feel tempted to take a “Why are people such idiots?!” approach when we see people acting like fools in a pandemic, Steak-umm explains the answer to that question in a way that doesn’t blame, but encourages thoughtful processing of information. (Which of course will be ignored or rejected by said idiots, but it sure makes some of us feel good to see such eloquence and intelligence, especially in the cesspool of social media.)
cognitive dissonance is useful to acknowledge but difficult to dwell on. some hypocrisies are in people’s control t… https://t.co/m5Af5pdSfJ— Steak-umm (@Steak-umm)1602861862.0
dualism doesn’t mean you have to give equal credence to opposing beliefs in your mind, rather it teaches you how to… https://t.co/Z9mbgwlVxW— Steak-umm (@Steak-umm)1602862336.0
Also unlike the Tweeter-in-Chief, Steak-umm is remarkably self-aware and able to provide an honest and transparent reflection of the benefits it derives from tweeting the way it does.
even when a brand is on the “right” side of an issue, it’s because choosing that side is providing them value. it’s… https://t.co/YtEBovLWfp— Steak-umm (@Steak-umm)1603909434.0
steak-umm posts about coronavirus and online misinformation because (1) these are universal issues and (2) our audi… https://t.co/64FjtLDnMO— Steak-umm (@Steak-umm)1603909912.0
when we remind people that brands do what they do to meat a bottom line, it postures us above the problem, but we a… https://t.co/tbRmGp2Jlf— Steak-umm (@Steak-umm)1603910696.0
Like, whoa.
And they’re right. People are buying their product because they like their social media statements.
@steak_umm bought these for the first time today because of your posts https://t.co/YkpXWI5qYT— Moore (@Moore)1600528813.0
Not all of Steak-umm’s tweets are filled with civilization-saving gems of wisdom, of course. I mean, there’s this:
sing this lullaby if you ever have trouble sleeping:steak-umm bless
steak-umm bless
steak-umm bless you and me… https://t.co/9gmqgvREob— Steak-umm (@Steak-umm)1603857170.0
And this silliness, beeflings.
fly high, but be wary of flying too close to the sun. remember the tragedy of icarus, beeflingssteak-umm bless
— Steak-umm (@Steak-umm)1602124709.0
They also get cute with certain spellings, always writing the word “meet” as “meat” and “mistake” as “misteak.”
The frozen meat product being the adult in the room again. (Also, I see what you did there with misteaks.) https://t.co/KiIlbQRymz— Nancy Armour (@Nancy Armour)1601611844.0
If you don’t usually buy your meat in the frozen convenience food section and aren’t familiar with Steak-umm, this tweet describes the brand perfectly:
steak-umm is a frozen beef sheet product that was invented in the 1960’s for parents to feed children easily-chewab… https://t.co/NbUxEKmzhK— Steak-umm (@Steak-umm)1601307281.0
Thank you, Steak-umm (and their social media manager, Nathan), for fighting the good fight and adding something of value to the Twitter world.
Steak-umm bless, indeed.