Yesterday was one of those Stay Off the Internet days. The outrage and disdain spread throughout all of my social media channels, sarcastic memes about Christianity and indignant lack of discussion on both sides. Before I could even catch up on the actual news of the Supreme Court’s latest decision, I was inundated with how every acquaintance I know feels about it.
Correction: How every angry individual I’m connected with on a computer screen felt about it. Those supporting the ruling were generally silent. Those who needed to hear exactly what it was we were lighting our torches over definitely stayed quiet, because by the time the details were sorted out, it would have been nothing short of dangerous to post about it one way or another.
I have opinions. My moral convictions have shifted some in the last decade, which, mind you, still makes them moral convictions. My (mostly) libertarian beliefs have thoughts on what are and are not “rights” in this country. And though I grew up in a politically bantering family, am educated and opinionated and genetically a smart person, I’m still scared stiff to wade into the crowd online, no matter the issue, no matter the side.
People are mean online. If you don’t know every nuance of every issue, you’re dismissed, often in a condescending and demeaning way. Crazy people attack strangers on twitter and their family members on facebook. Most rational people are somewhat gun shy (pardon the pun) about expressing their controversial opinion online, and now even that respectful hesitation is judged.
A narrative I keep hearing in the blogging world is that we need to SAY MORE! SPEAK UP! and that we're not using our platforms as well as we should. I bristle at that.*
What the internet needs is not more empty outrage. I’m not one to hold hands and sing Kumbaya. I don’t think love is always the answer. But the laziest activism I’ve ever seen has gone down on twitter. And it changes with the wind, so what does that even mean, really? Are we changing hearts with 140 characters or less? We are not.
The conundrum here is that it feels good and right to claim your identity by expressing online. By participating in the cyber celebration or protest, we’re saying “This is who I am and what I believe! Take me or leave me!” It’s better than a t-shirt. More effective than a bumper sticker. But it’s really mostly nothing.
No matter what issue you feel deeply about, it takes actually DOing something. Feet to the ground, time and money invested, DOing. This world screams for more “real people” and less professional politicians but the most depressing part of the Sarah Palin debacle was how ridiculed she became for being “just a soccer mom.” By now we all know how that story turned out, but I think the public torching for her missteps discouraged every other capable soccer mom in America who could handily run their city/state/country. What a shame.
We want real people but we don’t want real real people. We have a need to express our opinions online, but we don’t want to listen to anyone else’s. Everyone is screeching or, like me, listening to the screeching with fingers hovered over the keyboard. The only wise one of us closes the laptops and pulls on work gloves.
Which is not what I did yesterday or what I do most days. So excuse me if I fall silent on an issue that you deem important. It doesn’t mean I don’t care about it or that I don’t have an opinion on it. It just means that the computer is rarely a worthy battleground. I'd rather us all Do The Work.
Fight on, friends. Whatever that means to you.
*
(Annnnnnnd related: Don't Tell Me How To Use Facebook.)
*This post originally contained a reference to a speech at a conference that called for bloggers to be more outspoken. Although I meant for it to be a general point, it was actually hurtful to the blogger, the online community itself, and the important work being done in this country on the subject of race. As I never aim to cause pain with my words, I've re-worked that paragraph and apologize to anyone who was offended.
photo by torbakhopper via flickr
