#152 Musings Beyond the Bunker (Friday September 24)
Good morning!
The world of Facebook users can be fit fairly neatly into three groups: Those who are “regulars” and post all sorts of things—often personal—for the world to see, those who have no interest at all in looking at Facebook, and those who dip in periodically, more to gauge what people are saying and gain some understanding on what a broader sample of the world thinks.
The “Natives” are those who just can’t get enough of social media. Notwithstanding the Musings project, I’m too private to want to share my life and experiences so broadly. To me, much of the postings feel like a personally curated selection of photos and text that screams out “this is the most perfect me.” But in its self-curation, we become avatars of our “real selves.” That said, I’m happy to see pictures of your kids’ graduations, vacations and favorite photos. And I’m happy you enjoy social media so much.
The second group seem unwilling to acknowledge the social media trend and I suppose feel that if they don’t look, it will go away. It feels much like William F. Buckley’s statement that conservatives “stand athwart history, yelling Stop, at a time when no one is inclined to do so.” You can stand athwart history but I suspect you may find yourself run over. Eventually, more and more communications will come to us through social media. And I think you’re missing out on articles sent around by friends…
The final group is my group. It’s something akin to being unable to avert one’s glance from a train wreck. I don’t want to troll Facebook all the time, but I want to stay in touch. Some friends share interesting articles. Others convey news. I originally was introduced to Facebook as a means to stay in touch with plans for a high school reunion some years ago. A friend called and called me a Luddite for not being accessible through the medium of communication of choice. So I am now connected with my high school friends and acquaintances from my past. Now it offers me a peek into what other people are saying about our current moment. And it’s not all good.
SOME CHILLING POSTS
I went to a public high school in a neighborhood that was not terribly ethnically heterogeneous, and as far as economics, spanned from what people might describe as working class to upper-middle-class. There was not the tremendous wealth, nor were there significant pockets of poverty. It was a suburban neighborhood.
The reason I share this is to note that my high school friends really cover the gamut as far as politics, professions, interest groups, and ultimate locales. And with this diversity comes a fair bit of interesting information and some pretty chilling stuff.
Here are two of the latest. I will describe them, rather than show them because to share them affords them far more visibility than they deserve:
The first contains picture of the forearm of a holocaust survivor with tattooed numbers prominent. Below it is the arm of a woman attending a baseball game (the field is in the background) with a bracelet that says “covid vaccinated.” Two notations appear. The first is “Woke Yet?” The second is “Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.”
The second is a picture of a man sporting a moustache in the fashion worn by Hitler, dressed in pink colored army uniform and hat, with a swastika on his sleeve in the rainbow colors of Gay Pride. The text reads: “We went from ‘ten days to flatten the curve’ to ‘show me your papers’ in a year. I did Nazi that coming.”
Beyond the fact that these misuses of symbolism of one of the greatest acts of inhumanity the world has ever known, a misuse that chills me, as a Jew, to the core, this is a misrepresentation of history. To suggest that the move to require vaccinations from our citizens in order to save lives (theirs and others) can be equated with the Nazis, whose mission was to take lives and subjugate others, is a gross mischaracterization. And equating masks and vaccinations with anti-Gay images is similarly unacceptable. But Facebook and the internet are replete with these false equivalencies and mischaracterizations. And people read them.
We should all be very concerned that such things are proliferating out there, encouraging people to make bad decisions and provide fodder to vilify those who are trying to help us through a trying and dangerous time.
If this were a debate round, the topic would be “Facebook does more harm than good.” I think the topic is so imbalanced as not to be fair to the opposition. Of course it does more harm. We should be concerned.
FACEBOOK BACK IN THE NEWS
Facebook is under fire in a recent series of articles published by The Wall Street Journal. While the articles definitely are worth the read, the basic conclusions are:
Facebook is a vehicle whereby lies, misinformation, and hateful speech is not only published but disseminated widely.
The most incendiary of posts are reposted multiple times. It is the multiplication effect that is most damaging.
Facebook is well aware of the problems but is unable to address them in any meaningful way.
Facebook’s primary mission (more eyes, more time, more posts, more ads) works against any interest in trying to control hate speech and disinformation.
Facebook has been lying to us about their knowledge of its destabilizing influence and as to what it has/can/will do.
We can’t continue to allow the control of misinformation and our democracy’s health to be in the hands of a profit-making venture that is subject to minimal regulation, has little sense of its public impact, and poses such great risk.
Best,
Glenn
From the archives: