The Marmite that is social media

I have a love/hate relationship with social media. And ironically I'm using a form social media to express this.

Love: In an information age, it's a good place to stay connected and abreast of everything all in one place. Governments and corporations treat us like mushrooms (keep us in the dark and feed us shit). Social media is good for sharing information, education and debate - this is important on an individual level and healthy for a society. I follow all the news agencies on Twitter, as it saves me trawling through websites. And in a time when everything is spun, shrouded in secrecy and underhand, it's important to share as much info as we can.

Hate: We've dehumanised ourselves and everyone else through living in a digital world. It's easy to comment on things when people and circumstances are so abstract. Recently, I retweeted the photo of a toddlers body lying on a Turkish beach. It was a reaction to the harrowing image and the UK's reluctance to help the plight of refugees. I quickly undid this action, as it's important we know about the life threatening situations these people put themselves in, but it's become almost gladiatorial where we relish in tragedy. And in the feeding frenzy of getting the story, reputable press agencies didn't even bother fact checking something as simple as the little boy's name. Even in death, he was disregarded.

Social media brings out both the best and worst in humanity. We shouldn't stop people from expressing themselves, even if it goes against a liberal standpoint, as their opinion is just as valuable, but we should try and remember the human in the story. It was through social media I learnt of his existence and it was through social media I was schooled about press errors. This is a beautiful thing. Using tragic events to jump on a speeding bandwagon for our entertainment is not.

First published 06/11/2015