Stephen Hawking and Syria

One effective way to ensure that Syria remains in the public discourse is to sensitively and carefully mention it during discussions of other trending news. We did this on 14 March 2018 when the renowned physicist Stephen Hawking passed away.

Using a photo of Hawking together with his own words on Syria, we quickly made an image for social media. We posted this to Facebook along with a caption mourning his loss and directing readers to an opinion piece he wrote for the Guardian and the Washington Post about the horrors that were happening in Syria. The article included these powerful lines: “What’s happening in Syria is an abomination, one that the world is watching coldly from a distance. Where is our emotional intelligence, our sense of collective justice?”
It wasn’t the most beautifully designed image for social media but speed was more important than aesthetics as we wanted to contribute quickly to the growing conversation around Hawking. We also had to ensure that we weren’t seen as trying to benefit from his death and that our post was relevant and tactful. That we received around 3,000 reactions and 3,000 shares indicates that we got the balance right. A similar post on Twitter received 156 retweets and 197 likes. It was also embedded in an article by the Middle East Eye about Hawking’s death.