Well I think there is something that links some of the original examples posted by Minty in this thread.

Football - this is almost a religion to some and as country I think far too many people are obsessed by it.

Royalty - as in Diana's death. There are many people who clearly still love or are obsessed with the Royal Family.

So to my mind these two things, football and Royalty both have huge public followings and as a result get a heck of a lot of coverage. So there is some sort of collective body of "fans" for want of a better word that will all react to events that occur to anyone in these spheres en-mass.

I also think there is some self serving bandwagon motive about such things. Soccer "coming together" over the Muamba thing was an opportunity for the fans to paint the game in a good light. A cynical view? Maybe but I bet there is some truth in it.

I myself having no interest whatsoever in soccer and only took a very passing interest in the Muamba situation because it made the headlines and was an unusual situation.

I was more affected by Ian Millward's loss when his son died but even that was probably because I have a son of the same age rather than because of the RL involvement but I suppose I may never even of heard of this had I not been an RL fan as RL people just don't get the same coverage in the national press.

There seems to be some sort of herd mentality when we see such big reactions to certain events. Whether this mentality is now more prominent than it used to be is the question. I think it is. In the past (say 60's and 70's) soccer wasn't the obsession it is today. It was just another game for many whereas now its a religion for many more.

I am trying to think which such "religion" I belong to but I can't really think of one.

Nobody's obsessed with, say, RL? Don't forget that, when Terry Newton died, it became verboten to discuss anything bad he'd done in his career – and that's actually an entirely relevant point within he context of this thread.



I doubt it very much. It was mostly a social media response and then was reported on by the mainstream media. I didn't see it being used to suddenly pretend that all football fans were some sort of angels.



Understandable.



I'd agree with this.



And support for monarchism as a whole is probably less, which rather ruins your point, I'm afraid.

I didn't cry when Diana died. In fact, the reaction of the mourners there made me (perhaps inappropriately) laugh.

I did, however, cry when I watched the Twin Towers come down. I didn't know anyone in them and have never been to New York, but I cried.

A few times actually.

That's a funny post. You need to get a grip.

How hard can it be?

That gets my vote!

Also add to that list the Royal Wedding, people having street parties, bank holidays and suchlike celebrating the fact that Wiliam and Kate had got married whilst we're in the worst recession since WW2 and we've 2.6million unemployed.

I suppose you will be turning down the offer of some extra time off during the Jubilee then?

The only recent one which I can relate to is the sinking of the Costa Concordia. I work on a cruise ship and I have worked on one that listed 6 degrees in the middle of the Atlantic a couple of years ago. At the time I thought it was pretty mental and crap was all over the place - people falling over screaming etc, but not once did I feel I was in any specific danger because I knew the guys on the bridge and I just thought we'd be fine. After the Costa incident, which obviously listed close to 45 degrees I just cannot imagine how people coped - you literally put all your trust in the Captain and all of his officers and for that to happen is unbelievable.

..but just to add - I didn't go in the mess and cry my eyes out. I just read the news report a few times and shook my head in disbelief.

I'm self employed so won't be getting paid anyway.

I didn't cry, but felt very moved after the deaths of Mike Gegory, Terry Newon, Adam Watene, and Leon Walker because they were representing a sport I feel passionate about.
In the same way I feel a great sense of pride when I hear of Steve Prescott's determination.
I never met any of these, but saw most on the field. I can understand the reaction of thoe who are as passionate about football/royalty/music.

I went to work on the Saturday to avoid the funeral, along with many others. No radios or TV's were allowed.

When the twin towers went down I was at work and TBH the reaction was a stunned silence, we all packed up and went home.

I couldn't get bothered about Diana, she was reviled by many before her death and then practically elevated to sainthood by the same people after she popped her clogs.

The people who died in 9/11 or 7/7, the victims of disasters I do feel emotion for.

The point of the discussion isn't whether certain things make us feel sad or not, it's why some people feel the need to put on hugely dramatic displays of emotion in public.

There maybe less support for it with those who could take it or leave it but I think those who do support it are as fervent as ever if not more so and the whole jubilee thing and the recent Royal marriage will be seen by the monarchists as some sort of rehabilitation of the brand.

The Terry Newton thing is an interesting point. I was never a great fan of his as a Wigan player. I always felt he would do something daft that would cost us an important game but that view was not popular long before he died. He was a player who wore his heart on his sleeve and that type of player always gets many fans on side. I used to regularly make my views known that I felt he was a bit of a liability and this was usually jumped on by my fellow Wigan fans. So I am not entirely convinced that attitudes after his death were that far removed from what they were when he was a Wigan player. He was always on a pedestal for some. Had he been an anonymous player with no reputation and yet it was then verboten to discuss anything he had done in his career after he died, then I think you may have had a point there.

As to Muamba I don't see that it matters if it was a social media response or not in terms of any motives (good or not) for the responses to his heart attack. In fact all the various different types of social media we have these days such as Twitter and Facebook make it far easier for bandwagon's to roll. The fact there have been public displays of support for the player in grounds across Europe probably could not have happened without the social media aspect and while I am sure many fans were genuine I can't help thinking there will have been at least some "lets show everyone how nice football is" behind some of it and a certain amount of self congratulation at the reactions as well.

I think social media has more to do with it than anything else e.g. bored, boring and nosey people on facebook al praying for Muamba (I'd never heard of him before I doubt any of the people praying of him had either).

Compare Fabrice Muamba and Marc Vivien Foe, social media wasn't anywhere near as popular in 2003 as it is now, Marc Vivien Foe died and there weren't much of fuss, they retired his jersey number at City IIRC but had that happened now there maybe teenagers crying all over Facebook and twitter.

People seemed to be afraid of being rounded up on or bullied for holding an opinion, personally i'm past caring so don't usually go down the sycophant/emotion route unless that person has actually inspired me or grabbed my heart in some other way.

On the Hillsbrough thing, i view i have on why some Liverpool fans get so self righteous (i expect poop for this opinon) is to deflect slightly from their own fans being involved in a stadium disaster that killed 39 Italians and injured countless others and the shame that brought on the club and how they were seen by the rest of the world.
Liverpool as a a city has always seemed very defensive.


On the Titanic, WTF!
Personally i think James Cameron should shoulder some of the blame.

I'm also getting fed up of the road shrines popping up, i actually have in my will and i poop you not "If i die in a road related accident please do not leave flowers or make any kind of memorial where it happened, i don't want the random place i have died to be associated with my memory"

What a pain in the they are, I can just understand a grave although I have never visited anyones.

Why are roadside shrines a pain?

Why are they needed?

There a eye saw, don't get looked after, get in the way if development or maintenance is needed.

Imagine if everyone who died on the road had one.

Surely if it was the right thing to do, the reception area of every hospice and old folks' home would resemble the Chelsea Flower Show

shrines all over the every 3 metres where somebody once died, looking after all your desendents 'death spots', you wouldn't have time to work!

Imagine the up roar when in a few hundred years we have to build on graveyards because of the population.

Because the people that leave the flowers generally do not bother removing them when they wilt and die. The sight of a roadside shrine 3-4 weeks later is truly miserable and seems to me to defeat its purpose.

My personal point of view almost perfectly matches the above, hence the reason that I mention the date on page one, which in all probability most people had to go away and look up.

Ditto.

They also make our own opinions, views and emotions much more visible to the general public and to those around us than they ever were before.

The death of Diana for example, other than screwing up a pre-booked few days away in London by scheduling the funeral for that weekend, didn't particularly register on my emotional radar. I certainly didn't take the time to go canvass opinion on what other people's thoughts and feelings were.

These days I wouldn't have to go canvass them, as they would be spread all over the social media. Posting an alternate view to the majority (i.e. that she was a spoilt, attention seeking mentalist) would likely have got me lambasted, whereas at the time I could happily express that view and only those closest to me would know it.

How many of those who express sympathy, condolences or regrets regarding complete strangers on social media do so because they feel that's what expected of them, rather than actually meaning it?

You have a pretty dim view view of humanity of which you are a part.
People usually express condolences because they mean it. if they don't mean it they don't bother.
Simple really.

There are lots of mindless sheep out there incapable of rational, independent thought processes.
Of course there are.

One could of course argue that those that take this elitist view are themselves just sheep who like to feel superior, in a smaller, more select flock.
Not that I take that view.