Monday, March 16, 2020

Desensitized By Twitter

So we're in the middle of a very serious, very unsettling period in our world.

We have a rapidly spreading pandemic that has claimed the lives of thousands and have infected a hundred thousand more. Our way of life have been disrupted as a result with the closures of major public institutions, the cancellations of live events, and in sweeping lockdowns. And with news of panic buying and concerns over the slightest of symptoms... things are pretty grim.

Over on the Twitter world, there's a thing going on urging people to stay at home. It's a thing that's trending at the moment. Most notably, people are amazed that this serious thing that's been claiming lives isn't being taken more seriously by the general public.

I'm not surprised that people aren't taking something being pushed as urgent on Twitter seriously... partly because it's Twitter and more often than not, it's populated by idiots... but also, something else comes to mind... maybe we're just desensitized by Twitter and the social media bubble.

Think about it... something relatively minor turns up; whether it'd be a critical viewpoint of something beloved or a naughty thing that someone said years ago suddenly popping up - it usually results in a Twitter uproar. Things of sociological and political natures - no matter how minor - result in protests and online petitions and stuff that in the grand scheme of things, don't matter or are approached in a way that a lot of noise is made over nothing.

It seems like every other day, there is a big controversial nature that starts trending on Twitter and everyone jumps on the bandwagon in agreement, all for the sake of more likes. So when something like this comes along and it's something that you need to take really seriously, but you ultimately don't because every blow-up that came before was over something so trivial and pointless that this ends up being something that's trivial and pointless.

And this is not me saying that treating others equally regardless of sex, race, or orientation is trivial - I'd love to live in a world where everyone is treated as humans and not branded with labels - but rather, this is a plea to the so-called social groups who cause outrage because of a single word in a piece of fiction that doesn't matter to tone it down a little. This is a plea to the folks who live their lives on social media platforms to show a little restraint and thought into your posts that doesn't come across as something that's posted for the sake of a few likes.

What I'm trying to say is... don't treat every minor piece of business like it's a big colossal disaster. Because when a real big colossal disaster comes along, nobody is going to care.

Use social media to keep track of your loved ones, the news as it happens, to keep informed on this pandemic that's going, and basically not to be an ass. There'll be plenty of times down the road where being an ass will be fine for a lark, but this isn't it.

And while you're at it, try not be an ass in the real world, either. My faith in humanity chips away each time I see obese women fight over toilet paper that they shouldn't be hording in the first place.

That's all I got for today... I'll see about getting another video up sooner or later.

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