The other day a tweet arrived asking followers how they cope with the stress of a wired world. I believe that the word “stress” was suggesting negativity in this instance. My reply suggested that my wires are not my strings. I find my wired (or more accurately; my “wireless”) world to be quite liberating. I can control my communications and information far more than I ever did or could in the past.
In olden times, if one wanted to exchange information or pleasantries with a friend (in real time) one had to place or receive a call while both people were at home and near a phone (phones were often stationary devices.) Calls often went on for extended periods of time as call waiting was yet to be invented. One could romanticize this phenomenon or point out how it eroded actual social experiences and rendered relationships to nothing more than disembodied voices squawking at each other. The telephone heralded the end of social calls and meaningful discourse. It was the Facebook of its time.
No doubt, print and newspapers heralded the end of the town square and civic discourse. Fine. Progress is change, and change is uncomfortable. Do I bristle at having to learn yet another platform or version of what was working perfectly fine thank you very much? Of course. But suggesting that having more access to information and people is stressful? Well, that’s just irritating. We aren’t fitted with some sort of Woody Allen Sleeper helmet (yet.) If it’s all too overwhelming, turn it off. But to suggest that our (current) advances in technology are anything beside access to information or communication is just silly. There is nothing to demonize here. Facebook didn’t create bullies, nature created bullies. Technology did not erode teenagers morality or their sense of self. It just broadcasts it.
Are there one (or two) generations who have a radically different attention span than their elders? Most definitely. Imagine what the attention span was of a generation raised on horse and buggies? Personally, I’m more concerned about a generation who ends every sentence with a question mark.
I credit the (current) state of technology with the connectivity I now enjoy with extended family. Elementary school friends, I assumed I would never again see, are back in my orbit. It is a very satisfying feeling this sense of the continuity of life. In fact, it is the opposite of alienating. Technology quenches my thirst for research (and by “research” I mostly mean; “where do I know that actor from?”) While they will have to wrestle my actual newspaper from my cold (deceptively strong) hands, I love that I don’t have to wait until morning to know what is happening. The curated news streaming on my twitter feed was once only available to diplomats and really wealthy people.
All of the (literal) bells and whistles are muted on my devices. They exist to serve me. They allow me to feel connected to the world. And the torch wielding villagers are not going to convince me otherwise.
Here She Is Boys 
The White Hood Of The Web
There have always been people crouching behind barriers and throwing stones. In an actual battle, this strategy is in fact prudent. But when the stones are being thrown at unwilling participants it is abusive, and when the abuser is shielding him/herself it is bullying. (Bullying is by definition an abuser preying on a weaker person. Hiding offers protection, exposure leaves one weaker.)
Since the dawn of time, or since there were enough people on the planet to adequately ostracize some of them; people have bullied other people. Often groups decide that someone, or groups of someones are a threat to the status quo. The group itself gives rise to an enthusiasm and sense of protection for the abusers. Persecution of women in Salem, backlashes to integration and voting rights, gay bashing; we have a rich national history of bullying, And it’s getting worse.
We are in a time of economic uncertainty, political polarization, political correctness pressure and the internet. People have not become more or less decent, they just may feel more threatened. Nothing gets the bully’s goat like threat. But what brings the simmering increase of abuse to the boiling point is the rise of technology. Blogs, Facebook, Twitter, and countless website comment sections, have allowed for a new form of white hood. There is a vile cocktail of exhibitionism and hatred that litters the comment sections of legitimate news outlets. For some reason web editors and/or executives are allowing their brand to be a platform for hate groups. These posters use tragically uncreative screen names to hide behind, while rabidly posting. The unsuspecting reader is affronted with spewing from people calling themselves by war criminal’s names.
I am willing to concede, that just like wildly offensive television programming, the viewer can avoid the offensive material pretty easily. But I am concerned about the news outlets sense of responsibility and integrity. Offensive and abusive comments on Facebook and Twitter can easily be blocked and ignored as well. Even bloggers can block nasty commenters with ugly agendas. But where does this leave us?
The fact that we can protect ourselves from these high tech hooded thugs, doesn’t address the real issue. Why are we allowing people to hide in plain sight. Newspapers have long made it de rigueur to only publish letters from individuals with confirmed identities. Make no mistake, I am not advocating restraints on free speech. Far from it. But surely we have the technology to expose these people? The rest of us non-software engineers, should ignore the comments (versus engaging) and not patronize sites whose management allows for this behavior. People are entitled to be as dark and hateful as they desire, but civilized societies should not allow for them to do so in disguise.
Posted by Anonymous on November 16, 2011 in Cultural Critique, Media/Marketing
Tags: blogs, Brenda Tobias, bullying, commenters, cowards, Facebook, gay bashing, hate groups, integration, internet, Newspapers, Salem witch trials, Twitter, voting rights