Deep into this “communication revolution,” we are not always prepared to react to just how quickly information is shared. There was a time when our opinions on matters, whether they be political, religious, social, or about anything, really, were mostly between ourselves and our closest family or friends, but now all you have to do is click “like” and the whole world knows how you feel.
If there is anything slower than a snail’s pace, that’s the speed at which my dear-old-dad made his entrance into the world of Facebook. A few weeks ago he was taken aback when he was scanning the newsfeed, noticed a comment that tickled him a bit, pressed “like” and before he knew it, he was being chastised, tarred and feathered, and “unfriended” because he appeared to side with something that these people obviously opposed.
That’s what the world has come to, in this time of rapid communication. Ever since CNN started broadcasting 24-hour news, this country has entered into a social tail spin, reacting to whatever it is that they want to plant into your head. Sure, when something newsworthy happens, I want to be informed. But to me it’s disgusting when news reporters go “live to the scene,” and boast about it, selling us on the idea that what we all need is to hear the same thing over and over and over again.
Now on CNN you get Erin Burnett’s reporting on an incident, Anderson Cooper’s take, and then Pier’s Morgan’s. And in case you missed it, three hours of repeat. Three hours of wasted life that could be spent on many more productive things, when the basic information they are offering could be absorbed in less than ten minutes. The same goes for the other 24-hour news channels. I don’t care what anyone says, they are all the same, and are engaged in a form of modern brainwashing.
There is a common belief, and one that I share, that our country is now more divided than it has been since the Civil War. Gee, I wonder why? Social media sites, specifically Facebook, are just as responsible as the TV news media. The rapid spread of information, true or not, believable or not, has indoctrinated our society to a point where our associations have become more one-sided, and our reactions to various ideologies more hair-trigger. Now some care less about fact, and care more about what news feeds their personal dogma.
For example, I remember not long ago someone posted an altered image of President Obama’s ID card from Columbia University, carrying the name Barry Soetoro, and a band across the bottom that read “foreign student.” This was, of course, an image that was altered by a “birther” in their attempt to convince people that Obama was not born in this country and therefore not qualified to be President. And people believed it. But that’s NOT the point. The point IS, that someone posted that to Facebook, which hundreds of thousands of people shared, commented, and “liked,” and if you hadn’t seen it cross your newsfeed, then you probably hadn’t logged on to Facebook within the last five minutes.
I remember about twenty years ago when my grandmother decided to give email a chance. We were hoping that this would be a good way for her to see photos of her grand children and great grandchildren, or if anything just keep in touch on a more regular basis. But, once Grandma started getting spam email, she knew that her understanding of the world, and being a part of it, had passed away. She came from an age when a man’s word was all you needed, and for someone to send her an email, addressed to her personally, and telling her there was $20 million dollars waiting for her in a bank in Nigeria, was completely beyond her comprehension.
Of course it was something she had to follow up on, because since Ed McMahon never did show up at her door with that check from the Publisher’s Clearinghouse Sweepstakes, maybe this was her destiny. I don’t think grandma ever understood what was really happening, that her identity and bank accounts were at risk of being compromised if she followed up on these things, but she took the path of least resistance and decided to abandon the use of email altogether. The same would have happened with a PhotoShop altered image—an ability to alter an image with such ease was beyond her understanding, therefore how can it not be true? Though she has since passed on, there are millions of her generation still alive and on the Internet.
I am truly bothered by the fact that, nowadays, very few in this country can share their beliefs about anything without being classified, cornered, and condemned. I am bothered greatly by the arrogance of someone believing they are “right” just because they believe it to be so. What I am not bothered by is a different “right,” and that is their right to believe what they want, and express their feelings freely. Doesn’t mean, however, without social or political repercussion, so exercising the right, thereof, should be done thoughtfully and with much care.
The news media, regardless of their political or social platform, is indeed responsible for the mass confusion that is taking place in our hearts and minds. Not long ago, when the Sandy Hook school shooting took place, Pier’s Morgan took a stand against high capacity magazines and brought guests on his show to demonstrate this stand. Problem is, he brought on, as guests of the “opposition,” propagandists from the outer fringes that represented NOBODY but themselves.
I only wish that more folks would question the motives of people and their programs or postings, rather than jumping on board and absorbing the information as “fact.” Piers Morgan is no more of an expert on anything gun-related than my seven-year-old son, but they both certainly have motives to get you to believe what they want you to believe. Piers, he wants his ratings to soar so he can remain on the air and make the big bucks. My son, he just wants to con you into buying that new Lego set.
Not long ago I noticed a post on Facebook that was highly controversial, and someone I knew very well clicked “like” and I was perplexed that they would do so, when in fact the posting was the opposite of what I knew they believed. When I asked them about it, they said, “I ‘liked’ it because I ‘like’ to see them publically make fools of themselves.” I see a lot of that these days—people making fools of themselves. I see it online, on TV, in public, and, unfortunately, at family gatherings.
What we need is to slow down and chew our food for proper digestion. We also need to avoid conflict instead of instigating it. Because in all reality we are on a collision course, and at a speed that no doubt can only result in disaster unless we pull the plug completely. To some that means staying out of the fray, either by not pressing “like” or not logging on at all. And that’s too bad. Because it’s really just a matter of good judgment, which the opposite is easily noticed simply by logging on, or tuning in.
Steven Law is the author of THE BITTER ROAD (Goldminds, 2013) and EL PASO WAY (Berkley, 2013). Visit his website at www.stevenlaw.com.
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