So this is my first month on Twitter. As expected, I find myself very much inside a “liberal bubble” on the platform. This isn’t a situation I sought out. All I did was follow one or two writers I respect, then added other accounts (politicians, journalists, publishing houses) that Twitter suggested. The politics of those first writers went on to shape the contours of my Twitter-sphere.
The most obvious problem with this, an issue people have been speaking about for years, is the infamous “echo chamber” of information. The neighborhood of Twitter I’ve moved into is inhabited by people who think pretty much like me, and they share stories that reaffirm my worldview.
But I’ve noticed another pernicious effect. Not only are the same ideas batted about my Twitter neighborhood like balloons in a small room, but there’s also a concurrent outrage directed at right-wing idiocy that becomes further and further amplified. The outrage is usually justified, but I’m not sure it’s always entirely useful.
Take, for example, what happened to me yesterday. I was scrolling through Twitter (because I have one, because it seems like something I should do, because “twi…” is now among the things I type into the search bar when I want to put off working), and I came across a video of Tucker Carlson railing against the “bizarre measures” that schools will be employing to diminish the spread of the coronavirus, outrageous schemes like wearing masks and staying six feet apart, none of which, Carlson asserts, have any basis in science. As intended by the liberal neighbor who posted the clip, my sense of outrage came quickly.. How could he say something so preposterous?! What is the country coming to?! How can anyone have the nerve to spew such lies, such malicious propaganda that will get people killed, just in the self-interested pursuit of ratings!?
I texted my father. I paced frantically around the room. I scoured the web for opinion pieces laying into the Republicans for their anti-science bent.
And what did I accomplish? I certainly didn’t learn anything new. That Republicans in general and the perpetually-sneering Carlson in particular have little-to-no regard for science is far from news to me. These are, after all, the same people providing life-support to the laughable idea that climate change is a “hoax.”
My opinion of Republicans, Fox News, and Carlson was exactly the same after watching the clip as it had been beforehand. The only thing that changed was the visceral nature of my outrage.
And, in the form it took yesterday morning, that outrage was useless. It inspired no political action. It brought about no internal change. All it did was send coursing through my body simultaneous currents of anger and self-righteousness.
This is not a critique of outrage in general. There are times when deplorable actions deserve all the attention they get. Outrage about racist behavior, much of it on Twitter, has had an unquestionably positive impact and prompted a lot of necessary conversations (which will, hopefully, compel policy changes).
I just wonder if compiling outrage on top of outrage is always the most fruitful expenditure of time and emotional energy. In my personal experience, I leave Twitter feeling a lot more angry but no more empowered, and having learned absolutely nothing.
My first solution to this problem was to stay off Twitter altogether, but after some reflection I’ve decided there’s a better option: put the outrage to good use, rather than simply letting it stew. I’m not exactly sure how to go about doing this, but I’m pretty sure it will involve less clips of Tucker Carlson and more being proactive.
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