Approximately 200 million people use social media of one sort or another. Why? Because we like it. We like it because it puts us in touch with friends and family. We like it because we get to choose what our individualized social media shows us. It confirm our own beliefs, no matter how awful, twisted or incomplete they are. None of us is perfect and our personalized social media mirrors reflect back our own images as best it can, which isn't always very good. Even for the best people out there, social media is a bad mirror.
A carnival mirror is obvious in its flaws. Your car even warns you that its mirrors distort what you see in them. In both cases they are usually labeled accordingly. Not so social media.
Most platforms, and more so the worse they are, try to convince users they are seeing hidden truth, real truth, real reality or some equally meaningless description of the warped refection they show.
Some people don't want anything more. However, if you do the answer is painful, difficult and simple.
Look away from the bad mirror.
The internet is a business. Websites of any size are businesses. They want to lure you in as best they can. They will tell you what they think you want to hear in order to get you to visit and stay a while. Maybe get you to register, follow, like and heart - even better.
Look away from the mirror sometime. When you hear, see or receive something that is completely out of left field or just sounds wrong, look around for yourself and ask questions. The Holocaust did happen and it was worse than you can imagine. 9/11 was terrorists, not a conspiracy.Your skin, hair, eye color, height, weight, sexuality or where you were born has nothing to do with how innately intelligent or dangerous you are.
Take nothing at face value. Face value is two dimensional - so is the reflection in the the bad mirror. The world isn't. But don't take my word for it, look for yourself. Always look as deep as you can.
No comments:
Post a Comment