The Web
Recently there was a Facebook question making the rounds; ‘If you could remove anything from the world what would it be?’ The only answer I read (I’m sure there were thousands) was, ‘The web’.
Seriously? That’s your first thought? Not war? Pollution? Bedbugs?
Most of us understand the ‘the web’ has a dark side. There are trolls and bullies and children put at risk and scams and on and on… But if we consider ‘the web’ to mean social media then we can also understand that social media has been a major contributor to a lot of social good.
Beyond the cat videos and dance moves, there is a usefulness to the social sharing platforms that can not be easily dismissed. Look at the momentum the MeToo movement gained through social sharing of experiences. The same can be said for the collective outrage after the murder of George Floyd. What would have been the outcome of that incident without social media platforms posting and reposting the video? The collective outrage spread worldwide.
The same response is happening in the wake of the tragic killing of the Muslim family in London Ontario. A local tragedy becomes a discussion point around the world. And the same for the global response to the ‘discovery’ of 215 bodies of Indigenous children found at the residential school in Kamloops B.C.
The positive side of the web, in my never-very-humble opinion far outweighs the dark side.
Stay safe everyone.
Well that set off a whirlwind in my head. I thought of “hate” of course thinking if you didn’t have hate you would have love but that doesn’t necessarily compute, maybe without hate to drive the haters would just be empty, now that’s depressing. A world without hate would eliminate a lot of wars but there would still be wars for greed but maybe they would not have anyone to go to war for them as they would not benefit from it and then on and on I went, If X was gone what would fall into the void it created and on and on and guess I am stuck with the mess that is and I hope the will and energy to keep working to make it better. Take care Rochelle
Rochelle, I love your logic. Thanks for sharing.
Well, wasn’t this a timely post from my perspective after being majorly scammed on Saturday – 4.5 hours, 4 bank cards, an internet provider house call, 2 fraud investigations later. I hated the web on Saturday.
But today I laughed my heart out watching a dance on Instagram!
Great post, as always, Anne!
Thank you Janet. Of course there is the good with the bad…