Creating a Safe Distance from Controversy — Imagining Our Futures
An ethnographic vignette on how we limit free speech on our social media.
Imagine a world where everyone had the same opinion. Funny, right?
A friend recently explained to me why he chooses to remain Facebook “friends” with people who vocally hold vehemently opposing views from his own. He explained to me that he is from a very rural and isolated area, which tend to be devoutly Republican territory. Yet my friend is politically liberal. This uncommon combination of being from a rural area and liberal means that he may be the only politically liberal person that some of his hometown friends know. Therefore, he wants to maintain the opportunity to explain his beliefs to an audience that may not share them. While they may never agree, at least they have the opportunity to try to understand.
The election happened, it’s a fact. Candidates fought and a new POTUS has made a turbulent entrance into history. I am biased, I realize that. There are certain things about those who hold differing opinions to mine that I will never be able to understand. The most I can do is try to respect those who respect me and my beliefs and act with dignity while fighting for the causes I believe in. We are all pulled toward our different camps by strings attached to each of our different beliefs. This tug-of-war in different directions is how many are placed into their camp. Once on a side we have become the enemy of the ‘other.’ We find ourselves so entrenched in our own camps that many turn to simplifying the opposing argument into a neat package that can be dismissed. We surround ourselves in our bubbles with claims like “if you don’t agree with this, delete me from Facebook.” While holding these moral obligations to some of our internet “friends,” how do we decide where the line is drawn in the sand? I am guilty of deleting Facebook friends because we hold opposing opinions. I recognize that this is childish, however it is true. But I should not be silently deciding that they do not get a voice inside my bubble. We grow from controversy and differing beliefs.
We are entitled to make the executive decision on who we want to see show up in our Newsfeed. However, at what point do we realize that living in this bubble could be hurting us? We are shielding ourselves from these opposing opinions so blatantly that the root causes of issues can be overlooked. I routinely find myself shocked by beliefs that others hold so strongly and without question. I exist in a bubble of my own beliefs, just like most of us, and I love it. I take it for granted. I feel joy going through my Newsfeed and seeing posts and videos that friends have shared that make me think to myself YASSSS. But then my bubble bursts when I attend my family’s Christmas party and two uncles show up donning red caps that proclaim Donald Trump will fix our nation that was once great. At these moments the political walls that I have constructed around myself turn from transparent to opaque. Times like when driving back to Baltimore after a weekend in my rural hometown, stuck in traffic behind a red pickup truck plastered in bumper stickers. The sticker most prominently placed declaring “Islam is Satan.” Stunned and angry I driving through traffic, rushing back to my liberal bubble that is contained within Hilltop Circle. I have yet to reconcile how I imagine the world around me to be and what actually exists outside of my carefully constructed world.
