Carnival Cruise Line rep sounds alarm on growing YouTube problem
Cruise YouTubers are sharing a lot of information about cruise lines these days. But is it reliable?
The number of Americans who regularly get news from social media sites is rising.
Today, 54% of U.S. adults say they at least sometimes get news from social media, with Facebook and YouTube being the most common social media sources for regular news consumption, according to the Pew Research Center.
Related: Carnival Cruise Line takes bold step to reverse troubling trend
Although many Americans still rely on Facebook for news updates, the number who regularly use Facebook for news has decreased since 2020 as people increasingly turn to YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok for their news.
And as more people get news from these video-based platforms, the amount of fake news and misinformation being shared on these sites seems to be increasing, too.
In 2022, fact-checkers from around the world issued an open letter to YouTube demanding a crackdown on disinformation and misinformation spread on the popular social media platform.
Although solutions were presented to help reduce the amount of fake news spread on YouTube, there’s been virtually no meaningful change.
Misleading videos with shocking headlines tend to generate more views and rank higher than legitimate news from reliable channels on YouTube and other platforms, fueling the surge in false and inaccurate news content.
And even the cruise industry is feeling its harmful effects.
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Carnival Cruise Line targeted by fake news on YouTube
Carnival Cruise Line takes a unique approach to combating fake news about its ships and cruise line policies. Carnival’s brand ambassador, John Heald, spends his days on Facebook responding to a plethora of passenger questions and refuting false cruise line rumors spread on social media.
Fake Carnival Cruise Line news posted by cruise YouTubers has been a particularly troubling topic for the brand ambassador recently.
“Remember so much of the stuff that is written on these pages is utter nonsense,” Heald told his followers in a recent video.
“Before you think of something being true, remember many, not all, but many of these people that are YouTubing saying that certain ships are doing this or that — do you honestly think that they have that information before we send it to you as something of this scale? No, they don't,” he insisted.
Related: Carnival Cruise Line bans TikTok influencer after booze scam
Although there are legitimate cruise news channels on YouTube, such as Cruise News Today, there are many others posting fake cruise news on the platform and other sites to rack up views and clicks.
“It's fake. And the people writing this…they only have an agenda, and that is to get you to click on their website,” Heald pointed out. “So, if you see some extraordinarily outrageous headline, before you click on it, please check with me.”
Many Carnival cruisers do check with the brand ambassador, which is often how he learns about these false rumors.
What kind of misinformation are cruise YouTubers posting?
One of the rumors passengers brought to Heald’s attention recently was about its Fantasy class ships, Carnival Elation and Carnival Paradise.
“Just saw a video that Carnival is getting rid of their Fantasy class ships. We love the Elation in Jacksonville. Quick embarkation and the distance for us to Jacksonville. We were on her three times last year and have booked four more on her. Is this true? Is she going away?” Rhonda Michael Nowicki asked Heald on June 4.
Carnival’s brand ambassador was quick to refute the rumor, but also asked for passengers’ help in combating misinformation.
“Could you please share the video with me, please send me the link to the video and please send it to me on Facebook if you can because it is completely and utterly unfounded. We have already announced cruises on both ships for next year. Thank you so much, I would be grateful if you would send me the link so I can correct whoever made it,” Heald replied.
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On June 5, the brand ambassador also confronted misinformation about duty-free bottles of liquor sold on board.
“A Facebook site is claiming that liquor purchased on board will be delivered directly to your stateroom for cruising consumption. I always thought differently. Was there a change or have I misunderstood all these years?” Ron Emch asked Heald.
“I will delete that website or that page whatever it is because that is absolutely not true in anyway and please ignore them,” Heald replied. “There is so much idiotic news out there. I will always be here to try and help you with an honest answer.”
