In todays day and age we have the means to communicate better than ever before. The days of writing or receiving a letter in the mail are gone and the need to send a messenger ended long ago. First email and text messaging replaced these older forms of communication. Now Social Media has become king. With so many different sites and or apps to choose from even some Social Media sites are starting to be replaced. Anyone remember Myspace? Even Myspace’s replacement Facebook seems to be on the way out. Facebook seems to have become for “old” people. Millennials and beyond view Facebook as something only their parents and grandparents use; with choices like Twitter, Instagram and Tumblr taking its place with the next generation. Then there are the websites that have had to evolve to stay relevant like YouTube, Pinterest and LinkedIn. Take this blog for example, I can write about my thoughts and feelings and reach all kinds of people that I would have never been able to reach before.
One thing that all these sites have in common tho, is that they are all public for all the world to see and it is changing the way that we communicate as well as the way we interact with each other. I remember when I was growing up, people always used to say that you never talk religion or politics in company; that it was rude to do so and these were very personal topics and everyone was entitled to their own opinion. Well, in todays day and age these are the battle grounds in which people debate their opinions on social media and quite a few wars are fought between people who hide behind words who have no remorse for their actions. A big pet peeve of mine is when I am with friends or coworkers and start to tell them about my weekend or something that I have done lately and they cut me off and say “Oh yeah, I saw that on Facebook.” and move on. Ok, I understand that you might have seen me post about it, but that doesn’t describe it to you. Lets have a talk about it and share some thoughts and opinions… It’s called conversation.
In a lot of ways Social Media has been good, it lets us connect with friends and family that we might not be able to keep in touch with otherwise. You can follow your favorite celebrities, interact with them and take a small peek into their lives. You can share your thoughts and ideas, Showcase your art and creativity. But what about Social Media downfalls?
This country was founded on the idea of freedom and freedom is a large part of what makes America so great. Many people preach freedom of speech, but that freedom seems to go away as soon as anyone says or posts something that others do not agree with. Then its open season on the internet trolls next victim. So many things are very easy to be taken out of context. When reading a Social Media post, its a lot like reading a text message from a significant other or friend. Have you ever read or sent a text and you get in an argument over what you meant or the tone of your text? When in reality it was taken not as you meant it to be, because words have no tone other than the one that is given to them by the reader.
All to often someone may post a comment and that comment is blown way out of proportion. People treat it as this persons facts or beliefs and the media drools waiting for these situations so that they can blow it up into something it is not. Recently a reality tv personality was dragged through the mud for memes that he liked on Social Media. Just to be clear on this… This person did not post or comment but clicked the ‘LIKE” button on something that others found offensive and he publicly apologized for this action. Now, I do not even know what it was that he “liked” but think about that for a second…. No matter the content, he very well could have thought that the meme was funny or ridiculous or unbelievably offensive and wanted to draw attention to it. We don’t know because are are not him, but none the less he had to defend himself for “LIKING” something. Talk about living life under the microscope. Another example: a very popular sports broadcaster made a comment about a player being injured and how it was too bad. He even backed up his comment at how ridiculous it is for fans to be upset with this player for being injured. But, the media took one sentence from his statement and blew it up into this big deal about what an awful person he was. So much so, that the player being talked about also reached out to the broadcaster and defended himself and told him how disappointed he was to hear this. Now if you go back and listen to the whole conversation, you hear how this broadcaster wasn’t saying anything negative but actually defending the player. But that is not what the media wanted you to hear. I heard multiple radio and TV shows talk about this broadcasters statement for a week and a half….
MEDIA
The most disappointing part of all Social Media is the Media themselves. It used to be that you could turn on the news or pick up a paper and know that whatever you were watching or reading were all facts. You could depend on finding out what was going on in the world around you. These stories were fact checked two and three times for legitimate sources before they were published so that these news outlets didn’t have to issue an apology or look like they were unreliable if they were wrong. These days not only do they not check their facts, they don’t even apologize when they are wrong. All they care about is being the first person to break the story or write the headline that sets all the world and social media a buzz. Its sad really. You cant even trust the news.
On top of that, don’t just read the headlines and believe that you are getting your news. Headlines twist stories to catch your attention and pull you in. Most of the time if you click on the article and read it, you will find that out for yourselves. I think we are all guilty of doing it from time to time. Just another way that communication has changed.
Film, TV & Art
Even in movies, TV and Art we have seen a change. Social Media has changed the way we view these things. Topics, content and messages are constantly under fire. People have the ability to become critics and attack the people who choose to be creative because they don’t like the way a story was adapted or because they feel the message was wrong. I for one don’t want to see the same story over and over again. I like when a movie is different than a book or when the director takes a fresh angle on a story. I want to see or read something new and different. Expand my mind, stimulate my senses.
Feelings
Probably one of the largest ways that we are living under the microscope are feelings. We have had to learn how to tip toe through the tulips because everything we say and do these days offends everyone or at least someone who then makes it their mission to make it offend everyone. It’s almost impossible to not offend anyone. We all have different opinions and beliefs. Something that bothers me might not necessarily bother you. But in today’s world it could blow up into World War III.
We need to stop being so offended by every little thing. Yes, it is important to have our opinions and the freedom of speech to say what we feel but, when we start making people stop living and creating and speaking their minds we are stripping them of their freedoms. Choose your battles, not every mole hill needs to be made into a mountain. If we don’t stop being so over sensitive, we will have nothing left and will be living in a boring, mundane dictatorship. Sounds like the start of a great future Sci Fi movie of rising up from the ashes and bringing fun and opinions back to world. (Hopefully that didn’t offend someone.)
In summary, remember that just because a person believes one thing one day, doesn’t mean that they cant educate themselves and believe the opposite the next day. Opinions change. Never read someone else’s words with your tone. If you question their meaning, ask for clarification. Do your research. Its kind of unbelievable that you have to fact check the news, but don’t always believe everything you hear. Sometimes you have to do a little work. Headlines aren’t news. If a headline catches your eye, read the article and see for yourself. Stop being so damn sensitive. Not everything is the end of the world. Finally, be kind to one another. Whether in person or Social Media, treat others like you would want to be treated. When you see your friends, put down your phone and have a good old fashioned conversation. We have the power to change, we are the ones who changed it in the first place. Whether you like it or not, we are all living our lives under the microscope.
Get Out, Get Local
Thank you for reading and remember,
Sunny Days are a State of Mind…
Resident of Brandywine,
Jason Carro
Around Brandywine 