When I think of Steak-Umm I think of, well, steak, but apparently, I should’ve also been thinking about, quote, “Societal distrust in experts and institutions, the rise of misinformation, cultural polarization, and how to work toward some semblance of mutually agreed upon information before we splinter into irreconcilable realities.”
science the *term* has been politicized—not the *process* of it. as that process has evolved on issues, both public and private institutions have taken inspiration from it, but those decisions are still driven by economic and political interests which muddy how the term is used
— Steak-umm (@steak_umm) July 28, 2021
In case you’re wondering, yes, this is a 14-tweet thread from a frozen meat company dropping juicy slices of truth like:
in the past year various experts and public figures have changed positions with new findings, made good faith errors, politicized the virus, spread misinformation, and had disagreements across institutions. every possible narrative on these occurrences has been amplified by media
— Steak-umm (@steak_umm) July 28, 2021
And:
experts need to earn trust back by acknowledging misteaks and being transparent about their processes, what’s known, and what’s still being learned. they need to address valid concerns. they need to meat people where they are and deliver tangible benefits to improve their lives
— Steak-umm (@steak_umm) July 28, 2021
Followed by:
one universal goal everyone should prioritize is getting people from across the ideological spectrum closer to the same reality of baseline facts and evidence. it won’t be perfect, but that needs to be the trajectory, rather than the current divergent trend into split realities
— Steak-umm (@steak_umm) July 28, 2021
All while peppering in steak puns.
This isn’t a new thing for Steak-umm, though, as seen in their pinned tweet which, at the time of writing this, has over 20 of their tweetstorm rants:
this is the official steak-umm thread of threads to organize our top tweetstorm rants from over the years. topics include scientific literacy, critical thinking, memes, cognitive biases, woke brands, polarization, conspiracy theories, and more
steak-umm bless
— Steak-umm (@steak_umm) December 8, 2020
Basically, the Steak-umm Twitter is a mix of deep thoughts in regards to social issues and wacky moments you’d expect a food brand to have:
you can never escape The Brandshttps://t.co/YxuQ9txkMm pic.twitter.com/8B1n21EZus
— Steak-umm (@steak_umm) July 27, 2021
There are a couple of ways that brands use social media to their advantage. The most obvious way is to, of course, advertise whatever it is that you’re selling. However, you can be sure to see a “we support” post or two when it’s 1) a designated month for marginalized people, 2) tragedy has hit a community, or 3) a particular issue (such as COVID) has hit the entire world. You rarely get a brand that will write a well-thought-out thread just cuz, but apparently, Steak-umm is one of the few that uses social media in an attempt to educate (my next go-to example is always Ben & Jerry’s).
fell asleep last night writing a 20 tweet rant about distrust in institutions, disinformation, splitting realities, and potential steps to reconcile this trajectory, but woke up and realized it was mostly r/im14andthisisdeep gibberish lol
happy friday
— Steak-umm (@steak_umm) July 23, 2021
A lot of people talk about using their platform to have a conversation, but I’m not sure they get what that means, exactly. Comments like that often come up in one of the examples I mentioned above, but the reality is, not everyone follows through with their grand plan of taking a stance, support a group, or address a particular issue – that’s why so many people stress the importance of caring after the themed month is over, or after the issue stops trending.
It’s easy to say that you want to be vocal, but it’s hard to actually do it.
Steak-umm is, well, doing it.
I’m here to drop incredibly nuanced analysis of the current state of America and eat Steak-uums… and I’m all out of Steak-uums https://t.co/msT2EmJ63n
— Jake Rockatansky (@RealRockatansky) July 29, 2021
It’s strange to think that a frozen meat company would be the voice of reason that finally united America. But there you have it. https://t.co/PpmQR8dlfq
— Noah Smith 🐇 (@Noahpinion) July 29, 2021
There is a really crucial insight in this tweet.
Truth is costly, because proving truth is rigorous and time-consuming.
Lies are cheap.
“Credible sources being paywalled” is the result of the truth having to pay for itself due to poor public funding, a burden lies don’t have. https://t.co/4tRIUyOQrI
— Chris Espinosa (@cdespinosa) July 29, 2021
I’m not saying every brand has to be like Steak-umm, I’m just saying that when there’s the inevitable slew of brands making statements because (insert cataclysmic event), it’s nice to see a brand that speaks out on a Wednesday because they’d apparently had it on their mind since last Friday. Nothing awful happened to prompt them into suddenly adding a hashtag to their Twitter handle, they just felt like writing a thread – which they can now add to all the other threads they’ve made on different topics.
Not exactly the thought process I thought I’d have about something that’s found in my local grocery store, yet here we are.
I cannot believe I’m saying this but I hope you people are following the frozen meat slices account cuz WOW https://t.co/06ox6PP84U
— Iron Spike (@Iron_Spike) July 29, 2021
The Steak-umm social media manager is not being paid enough. https://t.co/Nw5kIppNN2
— the apocalypse, but make it fashion. ✨ (@ElleArmageddon) July 29, 2021
thanks i know right lol
— Steak-umm (@steak_umm) July 28, 2021
(Image: Steak-Umm)
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