TOXIC INTERNET: SOCIAL MEDIA & THE SEEDS OF DIVISION

Regular readers of my work will be aware that I have something of an ambivalent, love-hate relationship with or approach towards the Internet; including social media and Facebook in particular. I have addressed this element of detachment and loathing in other posts, as can be seen by the number of links at the bottom of this post. It was not my intention to produce yet another tirade upon the misuse of the Internet but recent events have made my revisit of the subject matter near unavoidable. If you have already tired of my diatribes, do not read further.

The Internet is an amazing invention, a wonder of technological initiative and scientific development based upon the work of Vinton Cerf and Bob Kahn. That is in no doubt. It is also one of the most God-awful scientific innovations that the public has embraced in recent decades. That same public have shown themselves incapable of using the Internet responsibly. This however, should not come as a surprise; herd mentality is known to lower the collective intelligence. This is a situation that even causes Sir Tim Berners-Lee, the inventor of the World Wide Web some concern.

Social media has sown seeds of division by assisting in the manipulation of the masses and helping to turn the world upside down. It has joined other media in fooling the gullible through irresponsible reporting but Social Media is not the real world. Tragically many appear to fall into the trap of believing that Social Media and the Internet at large; is the be all and end all of all there is in this wonderful World of ours. It is not.

To reduce the unnecessary intrusion, negative attitudes, news and irrelevant information that is often an unwanted distraction, it has been necessary for me to introduce filters. For example; I have found it necessary to distance myself from persons who hold or subscribe to extreme political opinion, both Far-Left and Far-Right. As a Government employee I cannot be seen to associate with such people on a professional level and on a personal level, I have no particular desire to do so. Sometimes you have to walk away. Mud sticks most often to the wrong people, while others go through life like coated frying pans, oblivious.

The polarisation is acute and highly visible, as is the twisting of facts via the presentation of information on Social Media. What I observe here in the UK is that if you vote Conservative, you are called a Fascist. If you vote Labour, then you get called a Communist. If you voted Leave, then you are described as thick. If you voted Remain, you get called a traitor. There is no middle ground and it goes on. The situation appears to be no different in the USA, with the division apparent between Republicans and Democrats. The Internet has standards below that of a nursery. Children are better behaved in the real world, than many an adult on Social media.

From where I sit, I see Black Lives Matter and Britain First as being no better than the other. Both are equally racist, both are equally extreme and both equally criminal. Both are disreputable and I find the activities of both to be distasteful. They are two sides of the same coin and that coin is called intolerance. Both use intimidation to further their cause and both are responsible for causing divisions within our society.

Today we have the irony that people calling themselves Anti-Fascists, will use Fascist tactics such as violence and intimidation to curtail free speech. There is no middle ground, the world is a mess and I want no part of it. Marxists and Fascists are the same in my eyes, both base their philosophy on the domination of the individual. I will not side with one evil to defeat another but I will be the enemy of both, if both are intolerant. I accept that his position is destined to lose friends.

Part of my desire to participate in ‘Social Media Distancing,’ is to avoid further involvement in unnecessary argument and disputes that are not my concern. In reviewing my past online activities, I can observe that some of these disputes never were my concern. My involvement then was unnecessary and today reviewing my past involvement, does sometimes cause me embarrassment. Not always but sometimes.

The Internet is of course full of misinformation, peer reviews, evidence and referencing are sadly ignored. This is not to suggest that opinion is worthless but facts do carry weight. So I sit here watching people argue about the shape of the earth and whether gravity is real. I do not know who Karen is, nor do I know who Bill or Bob are. They are now part of that warped world of Internet memes, used to describe the self-appointed expert. I sit here as a Registered Nurse with twenty years experience but Karen, Bill and Bob are confident in telling me that our patients have not died of COVID, because they read this really interesting article on Google. I sit here bemused by human behaviour.

It must be a great disappointment to Vinton Cerf, Bob Kahn, Sir Tim Berners-Lee and the many others involved in the development of the Internet, to see what the World Wide Web has become. This great advancement, this wonderful technological innovation that could have brought societies across the world closer together, has been used to divide humanity and spread a poison across the globe.