TL;DR has become a new term in my online vocabulary (for those of you not in the know, it means "Too Long; Didn't Read." People will literally preface their arguments with TL;DR....so if you see it, know that what it really means, is, "I read it until it said something that I agreed with, and then I stopped reading, because I didn't really care enough about it to finish it. I just wanted something to argue about."
When I was growing up, in the 80's and 90's, I did kid things. We went outside to play, we stayed out until mom called us in, usually well after dark. On rainy days, we got to play games on the Tandy computer. As I got older, I started writing stories. They were usually foolish, with no point (kinda like most blog posts that I post...)
As I neared the end of high school, and AOL became the new thing, for once, I could talk to people I didn't know, and it was cool. As time has gone by, I've come to realize that I have met a number of the people I used to talk to, in real life, and currently follow some of them on Facebook.
Once I left for Art school in Philadelphia, I wanted a way to keep my parents updated on what I was doing. I didn't want to call them all the time, because it was a long distance call, and could only be done after 7 on certain nights. So, I did what any resourceful teenager would do. I taught myself basic html coding, and started a blog.
I would have killed for Facebook, back then. Not the Facebook that we have now, but the Facebook that we had about 7 years ago when I first started. People would talk like civilized human beings about normal every day stuff...kinda like my original blog. Plus, you could play games, and people would help you out. The Facebook community was just that. A community.
As time has gone by, Facebook has changed. Algorithms have changed. What you are able to see, from whom, has changed. "Nobody plays games anymore," so nobody helps. And, instead, they dump. They dump on the games. They dump on each other. And they dump on people and situations they know nothing about. Trolls, they call them. Not the cute ones with rainbow colored hair, from the 90's. These trolls sit at home behind a computer screen, and actively make other people miserable. Why? Because they can. And they get enjoyment out of it. These people think nothing of telling someone to kill themselves. They issue death threats for agreeing or disagreeing with someone else's opinion.
While my social media presence has always been more fun and informational, many others use it as a platform. In light of the recent protest in Charlottesville, VA, resulting in the death of an innocent woman, and injuries of 19 other people, my social media has shifted to a feed that is 95% political. I understand the reasoning for it. People are angry. Social media is a great way to be able to get to a large audience to make your views understood. If that's your brand, then by all means go ahead and brand yourself that way. That is not my brand. Generally speaking, I think probably less than 1% of posts in the entirety of my social media presence, going all the way back to my now defunct website from the 90's, have been politically subjected. However, that does not make me ignorant of what is going on in the world, nor does it make me less of a person. It just means, that I'm a non-confrontational person, who would rather try to make someone happy, than to induce a fight of any sort.
I try to keep things light. I post my drag photos. I post the commissions for drag cartoon portraits that I do. I do my #bowtiefriday posts every week, with a different, new bowtie. I post foolish things to make people laugh. I post things that people wouldn't expect from me, because it keeps things interesting.
The random times that I do post politically charged things, it's because something has sparked within me, that makes me feel like I need to say something. And, it's usually, more of an observation, because I'm an observer. I watch, I listen, and I record it...whether on paper, or in my mind. When the election was over last November, and Donald Trump became president, I made a late night rant, in which I discussed the possibility of the United States entering into a civil war. The comment was based on perceived parallels between the current political atmosphere and the politics leading up to the civil war. The article I posted a couple days ago, surprisingly, echoed my sentiment from almost a year ago. I felt validated in my statement, by seeing it in someone else's words as well. So, I posted it.
The response I got to the article, though, kind of threw me a little. Although, it shouldn't have, because, the truth of the matter, it's what this whole blog post is about. Social media has become an outlet for working out anger. Fights start from innocent comments. We live in a world now, where communication is fully impersonal. A text, a Facebook message, or any other kind of written communication is now suspect. You can't tell the implied meaning behind how something was written. Were you being serious? Were you being sarcastic? Are you mad at me? Oh, you're joking? Depending on what kind of a day you're having, and what tone you choose to read the message in, it changes the meaning the message.
It became a discussion, after a photo of SILENCE=DEATH was posted in response to my saying that I avoid discussing politics on social media. Points were brought up from all parties who were involved in the conversation that were totally valid. At times, it felt like those who opposed my silence were saying that because I don't post something political every day or every other post, that I was wrong. Bear in mind, that these are all people who I know in real life, and respect. And, that when looked at with a fresh set of impartial eyes, each point that was being discussed, all parties were in agreement with. What became apparent, and has been apparent for a long time on social media in general, is that nobody really reads for comprehension anymore. It's for argument's sake.
So, we're all TL;DR'ing over here in the corner, stewing in our own anger, with no outlets other than social media. The anger, and fear of not knowing what is going to happen in the world in the next 24 hours is driving a wedge between us. We can be in total agreement, and still argue about who's got the biggest dick or the loudest voice. And, in the end, that's what will tear us apart. Until we stop trying to yell the loudest, we can look forward to destroying each other. Civil war will be inevitable. The problem, is that this Civil war will look much different than the first one fought on US soil. The lines won't be so finely divided into North and South. It's going to be friend against friend, and family member against family member. Why? Because they don't believe in the same thing you do.
The worst part is that it could be stopped before it happens. Speak Less, Listen More. Don't start talking until you've had time to hear the words the other person is saying. Educate yourself. Research, research, research. And, remember that not everyone fights the same way. Yelling doesn't work for everyone. And, stop arguing with people who agree with you. It's stupid.
Social media burst onto the scene as a way for people to connect more. And, it has fulfilled that goal. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and others are household names. But, they're morphing us into something that scares me. We're a species who have foolishly caused extinctions of other species. And, now, we're in the midst of a world in turmoil, caused and played out by our species. And, we're gladly turning against people on our own side, in order to tell them that they're wrong, when they agree with us. We accuse people of being hateful and bullying...and then turn around and do the same. And we do it all publicly, so that we can find out which of our friends agree with us, and publicly criticize those who don't, before we report them and block them from our pages.
So, who is really to blame here, for the political climate that we live in now? Is it the media (newspapers, websites and television)? Or is it Social Media? Or, are we as humans so quick to "forget" history, that we will allow ourselves to nuke each other to death, while we tell each other "You're wrong!" because we have to be right?
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