The digital era is a double-edged sword. On one hand, we have the power to express ourselves for all of the world to potentially see. On the other hand, there is so much to being said, we have to filter through the chaos to find what is genuine. For every writer with a talent for the pen, there are legions of those who have never outlined their thoughts before putting them down in written form, and among them are those who have no filter between their thoughts and what they broadcast.
Recently, on a Facebook post, I stated the trouble I have in finding a woman who’s as interested in me as I am in her. No derogatory remarks, no complaining about “nice guys finishing last”, just an honest, humble take on the sadness I felt at the moment. A lot of the people who are close to me, or even people who were distant but empathized, reached out in the comments to show me love and support.
Amidst the positive comments, an old classmate of mine used my comments section to post a huge rant about his disdain for American women. And when I say huge, I mean one huge, run-on paragraph stating his opinion that could have easily doubled as a C-minus freshman thesis if he had used indentation and proper spacing and grammar. His misogynistic comments caught the attention of an old friend of mine who offered a brief rebuttal to him in one sentence before turning her attention to show me support. Not one to lay down, the misogynist typed ANOTHER long paragraph insulting her and stating his whole backstory (which, while sad, didn’t justify his words or the insults that he launched at her and other American women). The rebuttals went back and forth for at least an hour, until I decided to delete my entire post to end the argument once and for all.
After I deleted my post, my misogynistic classmate decided to “explain” himself with a direct message to me, insulting my woman friend and sending me a link to a popular YouTube video that men like him use to fortify their negative opinions about women. At this point, I had enough of holding my tongue.
While I didn’t agree with his opinions at all, I felt that he had a better way of expressing it than bombarding the comments sections of people’s Facebook posts. I told him the reason I deleted my entire post, and all the comments within it. I also told him that if he genuinely wanted to get his thoughts out to the masses, he’s better off starting up a blog than bombarding comments sections and inboxes like mine.
The power of the written word can be easily mishandled and underestimated. Every day, online boards and comments sections are filled with people who post ill-thought and inflammatory comments. Nothing is gained from them, and they serve no purpose in this world but to invoke negative emotions.
Even those who take their opinions out of the Reddit boards and onto their own blogs and vlogs tend to put down their opinions with little to no research, attempting to market disorganized opinions and rants as “facts”. And more often than not, the authors of ignorant statements have little to no concern about who they alienate, believing that their own opinions are the only ones that matter, regardless how much evidence is presented on the contrary.
In times such as these, responsible habits in writing and commenting are more important than ever. Written opinions carry more weight in our current era than ever before. It’s easier to give into disinformation than to find the truth of the matter, and when enough people are swayed by a passionate lie, the results can be disastrous.
As authors, it is more important than ever for us to organize our thoughts before they are written, research our topics before they are published, and to hold ourselves accountable for every product that we put out there. We are in a unique position to educate and uplift our audiences with the works we create. We can plant the seed to help people better their lives through the written and spoken word. In the end, what is it that you want to do? Do you want to create chaos and negativity with your words, or do you want to bring progress and positivity with them?
Culture Fodder 