This morning I read an appalling social media post, meant to
stir up anger, on Christmas Eve. Like
the best traps for divisiveness, it was not an outright lie but a partial one,
one so twisted and so crafted as to foment turmoil. This clever twisting on social media can trace a direct path back
to the misinformation campaign of the
serpent in Eden.
This particular post came from a friend on the left but
could just as easily come from a friend on the right. Everyone is equally culpable these days,
sometimes knowingly, sometime unknowingly. The fact that Facebook removed 55,000,000 fake
accounts last week created by foreigners for the sole purpose of causing
dissension in America should be the biggest news story of the decade. It is a
blip because every day there is a newer and larger shocker and now tragedies & crimes of all sorts garner only their 15
minutes.
My friend who posted the story today (which was a screenshot
of some random tweet) could have taken 90 seconds to check out its veracity (so
shame on you, Pxxx! ) but hardly anyone does because the of glee we now find in
lobbing media bombs.
As I thought over this,
I thought first to abandon social media.
Humans have survived ice ages, bubonic plague, volcanoes, world wars,
and more but our own social media posts which sow distrust could be the biggest
challenge yet. Social media has undermined
credible traditional media and returned us to an age of yellow journalism, partisan and vitriolic.
At the same time there is a power for good – I love to baby
photos, pet pics, seeing my friends ‘ kids grow up, beautiful vacation scenes, and staying in
touch with people dear to me even when far away.
Rather than throw out the baby with the bathwater, I will spend the next few weeks unfollowing prolific
political posters. We may yet salvage
from real life friendships if we hide online foibles.
Let’s make the holidays truly happy and leave the rhetoric at
the door. Merry happy!
