I think technology is great. I love being able to watch all of the television and movies that I love, stay caught up on current events, and talk to my friends and family. That being said, there are many days where my interactions with backlit glass screens have led me down roads that I wish I didn't even remember anymore. It seems that as technology gets better, humanity gets worse. A stupid, expensive piece of glass carries more ammunition than most guns when used for destruction.
And my biggest fear is that we will forget that.
Earlier this week, I read a Facebook post from a family friend that commended our new president for the ban on Muslims. Against my better judgment, I commented, stating that I think everyone should have the opportunity to feel safe and comfortable, regardless of their backgrounds. In turn, I was told by someone I have never met that I know nothing of what I am speaking about and that at my typical liberal school, I am being taught to feel victimized. Now, it is true that I should have just let it go, but for some reason, I am still a little hurt that an adult who has never met me could sit behind a screen and call me stupid. Would they have looked me in the eye and said those things? Would they have stood and defended their words in front of all of the people that read it on their phones? I can only assume that they wouldn't, which is my biggest problem with social media as a whole. It is a way to speak the most offensive and evil of thoughts, with no consequence other than maybe some lost friends and rolled eyes.
Beyond Facebook, though, is an even sharper weapon, the text message. It's sort of the same thing, but when no one else can read it, it's even easier to say things that you would never, ever say to someone's face. Texting is simultaneously one of my greatest joys and my greatest destroyers. I have gotten great, meaningful messages from my friends and family, and shortly after been referred to as "a stupid bitch" and far worse from people that I once trusted. As I write this, part of me is still thinking "Well whatever, they never would have said that to my face. Why should I even take the time to remember it?"
But that's just it. That's the issue, the popular opinion. If it's between screens, it doesn't matter.
It does matter. It's painful, and it's threatening, and it's cruel. If you can't look someone in the eye and say that offensive thing, that thing that you know would make them cry or feel horrible down to their core, then don't you dare type it into that message bubble. The world we live in is already in so much pain, why are we constantly finding ways to create more?
