Guest column was bang on
By Letter to the Editor on September 19, 2018.
Re: “Why do social media users intentionally add to someone’s pain?”, Sept. 8 I would like to thank Peter Mueller for his recent guest column. As Mr. Mueller points out, though his family of five fled from Germany and were adopted by a local church in Medicine Hat (in what I am assuming was the 1960s or 1970s), some people in our community still focused on wartime stereotypes of German people and told them “to go back to where they came from.” As hurtful as that must have been for Mr. Mueller, he states that he can not imagine what it would have been like for his family to immigrate to Canada today, in a time where social media makes it so easy for people to spread hatred and misinformation. Like many people, after reading the comments sections of social media posts I am often left wondering how some people can be so uncivil to others, readily incite hatred, and resort to dehumanizing, attacking or even threatening someone they do not know because that person may have a different opinion, belief system or ethnicity. I agree with Mr. Mueller’s assertion that statements of hatred and extreme incivility are not as readily accepted in the real world as they are online. And, that quite often the people who are making these statements are lonely, fearful and angry. Posting on social media may give them a venue for alleviating their loneliness and venting their anger, but it also comes at a cost to someone else. That cost to others is something that I think many who choose to incite hatred and spread misinformation with their social media posts fail to think about. I am certain that if they or their family members were the target of such posts, they would be quick to denounce them and demand that others denounce them as well. Throughout much of the world we have identified bullying as a major concern in our schools, our workplaces, and our government. For many people it is easy to say that people are taking things too seriously, they are snowflakes, they need to toughen up, etc. That is, until it happens to them or to someone they care about. We have never had as much access to information as we do now. In under a minute people can share posts that incite hatred or spread misinformation. As well, in under a minute people can do a Google search to dispute those posts. It is also easy for potential employers, customers, friends, etc. to explore someone’s online presence and see what they have posted. As social media users, we have the power to encourage civility and denounce hatred online. It is possible to disagree with someone or be concerned about something without inciting hatred, dehumanizing people, attacking or threatening people, or spreading misinformation. We can, and we should, respectfully call out this behaviour and report threatening or hateful posts and sites (every major social media site has an option for reporting threatening or hate inciting posts). Thank you Mr. Mueller for reminding us of the importance of doing unto others as you would have them do unto you; Trying to lessen the world’s pain, rather than adding to it online or in person. Sandra Moore Medicine Hat 14-13
