I love the internet.
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It’s a place full of bright and brilliant minds, of engaged debate, diverse perspectives, creativity and powerful social justice.
Over the years social media has increasingly shouldered the burden of the social conscience, becoming a place where people can call out injustice, decry corruption, campaign for change.
Social media has allowed ‘everyday’ people to become vocal campaigners without having to leave their own home, creating vast networks of people pushing for change – legislative, cultural, ethical.
The rise of social media activism has been visibly powerful in the United States, where social media played a major role in creating the Women's March: millions of women marched in capital cities around the country in solidarity for women’s rights.
In Australia, the #NotMyDebt campaign was generated by a few people on Twitter receiving letters from Centrelink informing them of an apparent debt, and working together to raise awareness.
Within weeks the campaign organisers had heard from hundreds of people around the country caught up in the ‘robodebt’ mess that led to a Senate inquiry.
But there is a darker side to this social connectivity.
Facebook comments, Twitter, Reddit – social media can become an ugly hive of judgement, aggression, and argument for the sake of argument.
At this point ‘trolls’ are so common, it’s accepted that most people will receive an unpleasant message or two from someone who disagrees with their viewpoint online.
For those of us on social media not only for personal use but also work-based requirements, social media can be an exhausting, discouraging place.
The outrage factor has grown in tandem with social media, as people pour out their fear, anxiety and anger into the endless dark of the internet.
Even the most trivial comment can trigger a host of comments from complete strangers: we’re addicted to the pile-on, feeling good about ourselves for expressing outrage over something online.
It can feel good to tell someone else how awful they are, without ever having to look that person in the eye.
The most light-hearted story can become full of outrage and unnecessary tear-downs.
Just this week for instance, a story about a man stopping a shoplifter from stealing a roast chook in NSW went viral as people accused the man of snatching food from the mouths of desperate people.
Was this kind of response really necessary? Or were people jumping on a bandwagon for the sake of being outraged?
Facing this constant torrent of outrage and disgust from complete strangers, social media can be an unnecessarily draining and unpleasant place to be.
American comedian Sarah Silverman recently found a different way to react when aggressively trolled by a man on Twitter.
She reached out to the man and asked if he needed help.
Within hours the man had apologised, expressing the pain and hurt he had been in when he attacked Silverman: she put him in touch with medical specialists and apparently paid his medical bills.
Her gesture created a whole new atmosphere of ‘paying it forward’ as people were reminded of what good can be done when people hold off on judgement, just for a second.
Being kind online can take more courage than being mean. But it has far better results.