Twitter Trending
While scrolling through Tumblr last night I found a Tweet by user @/BNeslob that reads "The fact that Malia Obama is trending higher for smoking weed than 200 people killed in #Egypt is one reason why the world is f***ing doomed".
And I couldn't agree more. With attention spans as long as 280 characters there's little to be said about the amount people are willing to read about an evolving story. With every attack or resistance comes a media campaign, but these online movements don't always get seen because they are trumped by useless media that means next to nothing. If Malia Obama, an autonomous teenager in college decides to smoke weed people can judge all they want, but there are greater things at play in the world that require more attention. On October 10th, in the heart of London, there was Muslim march against ISIS and the rest of the world didn't see anything about it because worldwide trends don't actually hit worldwide. People don't want to hear what's happening in London, not if it doesn't involve them.
Social media was made to allow people to see the world around them that they can't find in their everyday lives. It leaves less to the imagination and tells you where your friends are, what kind of places are around you, who hung out with who last night, and so on. Social media was made to broaden the world, but somehow people have found a way to make it smaller. Ignorance is not bliss, especially not in a world where there is a place to find all information with a tap on a screen. There is no excuse for people to miss out on something that has relevance in their society anymore.
Maybe the world is doomed, not just because of one incident, but because of the continuous negligence that people have found in the one thing that is supposed to give them access to everything. Who knows what will be Twitter trending next, but let it be something important.
But that's what I think. You?
And I couldn't agree more. With attention spans as long as 280 characters there's little to be said about the amount people are willing to read about an evolving story. With every attack or resistance comes a media campaign, but these online movements don't always get seen because they are trumped by useless media that means next to nothing. If Malia Obama, an autonomous teenager in college decides to smoke weed people can judge all they want, but there are greater things at play in the world that require more attention. On October 10th, in the heart of London, there was Muslim march against ISIS and the rest of the world didn't see anything about it because worldwide trends don't actually hit worldwide. People don't want to hear what's happening in London, not if it doesn't involve them.
Social media was made to allow people to see the world around them that they can't find in their everyday lives. It leaves less to the imagination and tells you where your friends are, what kind of places are around you, who hung out with who last night, and so on. Social media was made to broaden the world, but somehow people have found a way to make it smaller. Ignorance is not bliss, especially not in a world where there is a place to find all information with a tap on a screen. There is no excuse for people to miss out on something that has relevance in their society anymore.
Maybe the world is doomed, not just because of one incident, but because of the continuous negligence that people have found in the one thing that is supposed to give them access to everything. Who knows what will be Twitter trending next, but let it be something important.
But that's what I think. You?
It's easy to imagine that anyone can become a global citizen with the access to information we have. I sometimes fall into this mindset, you know, the internet and the concept of 'ignorance by chance' cannot exist in the same world. Careless questions such as "Is Kenya in India?" shouldn't even be thought of. Yet I find there's such a thing as selective exposure where the media can determine what one learns and vice versa. There's a war in South Sudan which media outlets have almost completely ignored, and because of that, I can't blame a stranger for not knowing/caring about it. Consider the question: If it's not big news, is it really important?
ReplyDeleteI also find I can't blame the media either. It focuses on what it believes would sell, and sadly, the life of wealthy people, sports, etc usually sells very well. Although relevant, stories about wars and kidnapping in Africa don't catch people's attention. It seems everyone used to news about suffering. As a result, inconsequential/light hobbies such as viewing memes, playing video games, Netflix and gossiping about the rich are preferred.
This is not to say I disagree with what you are saying. I really do believe we should change this cycle, develop a love for acquiring knowledge and also gain more compassion.