Anti-Social Networking

In theory, social networking as a way to connect with friends and expand your social circle is a fantastic idea. Users can share updates and photos, send invitations to special events, ask for help in fund raising efforts, campaign for office, or disseminate a variety of other information to a large group of people all with just a few keystrokes and the click of a button. Recently, news of Osama bin Laden’s death spread like wildfire throughout Facebook and Twitter even before an official announcement was made. But something else has emerged from the digital generation’s inclination to share every thought with the world the instant it occurs. We have discovered that our differences are more important than our similarities.

It can start with something as innocuous as rooting for a favorite sports team.

Go Team A! Beat Team B!

Then, amongst the chorus of Team A fans, a dissenting response appears.

Team A sucks and their fans are so rude!

Suddenly that acquaintance from high school becomes an adversary, not necessarily because of his opinion but because he levied an insult against an entire group of people to which you happen to obviously belong. You become defensive and respond as such, which kicks off a debate littered with insults and unfounded generalizations. The next thing you know, one person has blocked the other and an e-friendship has come to an end.

Or maybe you have among your friends list an associate from work. As weeks go by you notice that she constantly posts a political or religious view that is the polar opposite of yours, and is very critical of those who disagree with her. Several times a week she posts something that ridicules the very core of who you are. Maybe you don’t respond to her posts, but you still begin to look at her differently at work. Every time she smiles and bids you good morning, you remember that just the night before she was calling you a pea brain and suggesting mandatory sterilization so you don’t reproduce. You realize her tirade wasn’t directed at you personally, and she likely doesn’t even know your feelings, but that doesn’t make her words any less insulting.

Both of the above scenarios have happened to people I know, and similar things have happened to me. If you have not yet seen anything comparable on your social networking profile, just wait a while. It’s bound to happen.

If you need further proof just take a look at the comments section of any local news report.

You’re pathetic.

Go jump into heavy traffic.

Your parents must not have loved you enough.

You are a waste of human flesh and oxygen.

These are just a few examples of actual statements I’ve seen today in response to current events stories. While I agree that we are all entitled to our own opinions, and I wholeheartedly encourage people to stand up for their beliefs, it seems that as a society we have lost sight of the most basic primary school lesson: treat others as you wish to be treated. It has reached a point where it is no longer acceptable to voice a differing opinion, even when one refrains from being rude and offensive, as it is more often met with words of anger and derision than with a respectful agreement to disagree respectfully.

Perhaps one of the most unsettling consequences of this trend is that we are behaving this way in full view of our teenagers and young adults, essentially teaching them that it’s okay to mock, belittle and insult those who are different. We are, by our own behavior, encouraging them to perpetuate the “us vs. them” mentality rather than to strive for diplomatic coexistence.

The surest way to corrupt a youth is to instruct him to hold in higher esteem those who think alike than those who think differently.
- Friedrich Nietzsche

Social networking brings our many differences to light and transmits them to potentially thousands of people in a single instant but there is always a way to express our opinions while remaining courteous to those on the other side. Next time your fingers are poised above the keyboard, ask yourself if you are going to broaden the gully or bridge the gap.