Do I literally want you to die?

The problem of cyber bullying, in particular with the use of social media, has never been more accurately represented than through this black mirror episode: Hated in the Nation.

This episode exemplifies the never-ending battle that the notion of “a tit for a tat” has and how the anonymity and freedom of speech enabled by social media aggravates it.

Like how the most “hated in the nation” were being targeted because of something inappropriate they did, social media vigilantes we see today are equally quick to serve perpetrators their just desserts.

Let’s take the “Yolocaust Project” as an example. The inappropriate behaviour condemned by the project was also among the reasons a victim/perpetrator in the black mirror episode was being targeted.

In the “Yolocaust Project”, Berlin-based Israeli artist Shahak Shapira superimposed graphic visuals of actual victims of the holocaust onto the inappropriate photos taken by visitors of Berlin’s Holocaust memorial. Some even had the most terrible captions, such as “jumping on dead jews” accompanying a jump shot on the concrete memorials.

The photos were later uploaded on a website, and those who wish for their photos to be removed must write an email to undouche.me@yolocaust.de and “ask to be undouched”. While all 12 visitors whose photos were featured wrote in and had their photos removed, what is on the internet will stay on the internet forever.

Similarly, pedophiles have also been targeted, lured and detained with the use of fake social media accounts. In this vein, the episode “Shut Up and Dance” also portrayed how vigilantes took punishing sexual perpetrators in their own hands — even having a young teen fight another man to death in order to keep his secret.

While these acts of justice were for noble causes, I wonder if we would actually reach the extremes of the dystopian reality portrayed in the black mirror episode — having the act of killing actually take place.

Just like how those who used the #DeathTo hashtag did not literally mean it when they used it, when we really wish death on the perpetrator, to what end do we really mean it?

This back and forth exchange that social media has enabled has blurred the lines between who the victim or perpetrator is, making the bullying on social media a much larger issue than it originally was. At the end of the episode, those who used the hashtag received the similar outcome they served to the perpetrators too, so who is the winner at the end of the day?

While we do not have murderous bees on the hunt for us when we screw up on social media, we have seen people pushed to the brinks of suicide, being chased out of their home countries, or simply being fired because of certain mistakes they have made online.

Using social media calls for the same practices we have when we encounter people offline too instead of always jumping to unleash the “keyboard warrior” in us.

1. This begins with us being more self-aware, and not putting ourselves in situations that call for condemnation on social media

2. We should also be more tactful in whatever we post on social media, as well as the way we respond to people

3. We should learn to be open minded and have honest, open conversations with others, even when there are disagreeing opinions involved

Black mirror has a way of making me think that the world could come close to being a lost cause. But as with anything, as long as we use social media with responsibility, we can reap the benefits that were originally intended for us.