I think this tweet would sum up the story of this week. Or my life. #realworldproblems #blameitonmyadd #arenthashtagsalittledumb #sigh #ohwell #heylooka #butterfly. But all humor aside, getting involved in social media has taken a little more effort than I imagined it had. It is partly because of me and my problems; I've always been a little shy--starting conversations has never been my strong point. I usually wait for someone to talk to me first. And I have noticed that this week as I have been paying more attention to my activity in Facebook and Twitter; I don't post very often (I usually can't think of anything to say), but I comment a lot. On the other hand, it isn't all because of my social networking retardation (for all you activists and politically correct people out there, I use that word with its true meaning-I really am slow at this kind of thing--I'll get back to this in a bit); I have found with Twitter--for myself at least--it's a little harder to make a presence of yourself. I don't have many friends who use Twitter, making my network very small to start out with, and as I have trouble expanding my network by myself as it is, it's hard to get the popularity. Though, I will remind myself and any potential readers that popularity was not my intention. I would also like to point out that there was one person who favorited my post...cheers to @pushlocal, whoever they are.
Now back to the point above about the political correction; it is sad that we now live in a time where I have to give such a disclaimer. And I would like to hypothesis that part of the reason is because of the digital age, for multiple reasons (sorry if this seems incoherent...it makes sense in my mind, I just don't know how to express it). Reason A: because of the Anonymity that the digital age has--perhaps unintentionally--provided, people now say things they never would say if they were speaking face to face with another person. People are more inclined to aggressively attack, slander, profane, and discredit those they don't agree with. People more openly voice their opinion, feeling safe behind their digital profile. Reason B: because of how fast information travels on social media platforms, movements and organizations are able to reach more people, for better or for worse. There are positive effects to that, such as raising awareness to the fact that the word 'retard' has become a derogatory term, which is offensive to those who have or are connected to someone with mental retardation. Knowledge is spread that retard does not mean stupid, dumb, gay (yet another word that has controversy attached to it), or other derogatory terms. Yet there are also negative effects; because information travels so fast, information becomes skewed. Much like the Telephone game on steroids. On top of that, combine this negative effect with Reason A and you have misinformed, angry, and violent people who attack any use of the word, whether it is used correctly or not, in very aggressive, hateful, and profane ways.
I guess what I'm trying to say is that the digital age has changed the world. It has changed how people think, it has changed how people communicate, it has change the way people interact with each other. Some of these changes are for the better, but it is a two edged sword. In the words of wise Uncle Ben, "with great power comes great responsibility;" unfortunately, because of the ease of access that technology and social media are, this great power is available to everyone, whether they are responsible enough. And while there are those who use it responsibly, there is an equal, if not greater force that uses it irresponsibly.
Well, there is my rant for this week. I'm sorry if I offended anyone (heh, my whole monologue of Anonymity? I am not immune). And if no one is actually reading, c'est la vie. #psychsocialmedia
I don't think that social media has made words derogatory. The words you talked about had negative connotations long before digital social media came onto the scene. The term retarded was a technical medical term. "Retard" has always been derogatory. Be careful attributing everything social to social media. Social media can be an amplifier of these things, but it is often not the cause. Food for thought.
ReplyDeleteI wasn't saying that social media made the words derogatory, I'm sorry if that wasn't clear. I'm just saying we really have to be careful with what we say today, and social media has helped facilitate that. 20 years ago if I were to use the word retarded in its correct context, no one would have cared. But now today, you say the word retarded, especially in an online forum, people lose it, whether or not you used it in correct context. I say this from experience; I was participating in an online discussion and used the word, in the context the word is supposed to be used (slow, from the latin word retardare) and got slammed, by multiple people, by being politically incorrect, a bigot, and many other things that I was not. People only saw the word 'retarded,' took everything I said out of context, and violently attacked me because of it. Was it because of social media? No. But has social media helped facilitate that? Yes, in a way, which I tried to explain in the post.
DeleteHope that helps clear it up.