Twitter; Victim Of It’s Own Blindness
I think I might uninstall it.
These were the words of my friend as she scrolled through the “streets” of Twitter. This particular selection of words from my friend won’t be the first time I’ve heard or seen someone express these thoughts.
The trouble people face on Twitter is universal, displacing territorial barriers since it’s not like the internet space had any barriers in the first place. Still, these troubles are so typical that they have become somewhat invisible, ‘a victim of its own blindness.’
One of the most significant problems faced by the introduction of technology today is abuse, not censorship, not monetization, and not even regulation. This is an expensive problem that can not be fixed by quick tweaks to the software’s programming language or pushing out new updates, or even updating the code. This, is a people problem, and it extends beyond violence threats. It is the general atmosphere of violence that pervades the social web. The fact that the average person cannot do anything about it is what makes it so wicked. We just laugh about it and turn it into one of those things that happen on the web; I think this is one thing that scares me the most about this new system of normality that we have subconsciously accommodated. When did endless bickering, escaping one’s anger and frustration by burying it in another, become the best things to do? All in the name of cruise.
Once, I glorified Twitter as a significant global community. I believe my words were ‘it is some kind of “owambe,”’ but the truth is — I’ve never been to a party where people can be bullied, taunted, harassed, threatened, stalked, and “creeped” on for their own pleasure without some bouncer, moral cop or a third party intervening.
Last year, Twitter could have been an online party, but now it’s more like a pit where people come to dump their existential rage or most felt shit on each other until one person surrenders. The openness that was once treasured has reduced into cliques and tribes of ‘ists.”
One thing that reigns supreme about tribes is that they would go through all lengths to defend their beliefs because it is the very thing that has brought them together in the first place. Thus, everyone is expected to pay homage, including you, and if not, well, you will just have a crusade declared against you.
