We’re irreconcilable. End of Story.#3
Social media are often regarded as the roots of all evil these days. Often blamed for intolerance, hate speech, polarizing opinions and even starting revolutions, platforms like Facebook, Twitter or Instagram became easy targets for regulators and politicians. But… Are these platforms guilty of all evil?
These attacks often come from journalists, who have one of the jobs most affected by the birth of these networks. Social media democratizes the spotlight: everyone’s opinion is broadcast worldwide, and everyone is a vehicle for information. And this is probably the biggest impact social media had on today’s world. It accelerated the word of mouth, with pros and cons: fake news is everywhere and difficult to spot (just like any other workplace gossip) and the news of an earthquake in the far ends of Earth arrives in New York at the same moment as the traffic accident that congested all entry routes to the city.
Of course, now that everyone can be an influencer, an opinion maker and a journalist, established influencers, opinion makers and journalists feel the urge to point flaws at these platforms. It happened with cab drivers, why wouldn’t it happen with journalists and TV stars?
And they’re right… The flaws do exist: hate speech, fake news, polarized opinions and even threats to public safety exist in these platforms. But what those who point their fingers at social media tend not to understand is that hate, intolerance, gossiping is not running wild on social networks. They are running wild in people.
Posts, tweets, likes or other types of reactions are widely available and, judging for the growth of the companies that own these services, a lot of people use them. And it’s them that hate, are intolerant and gossip all day long: people.
Shocking, right?
Now, another news… It has always been this way.
Wow! How can I be so shocking, right?
Christians have considered hate a deadly sin more than two thousand years ago. So, at least since then, it is documented that people hate other people. And they do it the same way they love each other, or they fear the world collapsing, or they feel the joy of seeing their child’s birth.
Of course, there is other Historical evidence of hate and gossip and intolerant behaviors, but let us focus on hate a little bit more…
Sadly, people tend to hate more the ones who are not in their inner circles, which is typically where love resides. This happens because outside those inner circles, every single one is a stranger. And strangers can either become friends, or they can become enemies.
Besides being a massive echo chamber, social media makes it easy to get you exposed to strangers, people whom you’ve never seen or heard about. And what happens when you meet a stranger in a massive echo chamber? Well, either he has an opinion that fits in your own world of wants, or… “She’s so fat for that dress!” “How can someone be so, so stupid?!” “That guy over there is all full of…” Alright, you got the point: hate, hate, hate…
The point here is not finding a solution to these behaviors. Of course, people seem to forget “where they are” when they post things on social media, often disregarding the fact that their posts can be potentially seen by millions of people. But they are free to use them. Even if these platforms charged some sort of fee.
The point here is to acknowledge something rather important in the analysis of today’s world: tolerance didn’t end…
It never existed.
