Three things are plaguing our nation: acquiring and using illegal drugs; excessive consumption of alcohol and tobacco products; disregarding restrictions on prescription drugs.
There is a fourth reality that in any number of ways can lead to heartache and social tragedy: collectively, the internet and social media.
We saw during the past presidential campaign how effective cyberspace may be when used to discredit an opponent, directly or through innuendo, including from any number of surreptitious sources.
President Trump made it an art form, albeit one that never will be awarded a prize or displayed in the Louvre. He has continued to choose social media to degrade enemies, and leave many of his lieutenants grasping for erudition within confines of their everyday roles in governing the nation.
But what Trump has done is only the tip of the proverbial iceberg. Others are just as active — and guilty — in turning to that avenue of communication in efforts to win votes, although perhaps not lasting friendships. Same is true in the horrible instances of bullying among the young.
In the larger sense social media may be true and helpful, but posts also can be degrading and, in many cases, just plain wrong: i.e., the fake news Trump likes to rail about, of which he also is a generator.
Such fictitious declarations are an undue burden on those who mean well; they also take advantage of gullibility.
Those who use the internet for perfectly good reasons, including dispensing valid information, are many, but for each of those there are many others — we fear the number is growing exponentially — who do so for nefarious, aggrandizing or gutless and foolish reasons.
Wikipedia is an online source of information that provides about as much as Britannica, though its posts often include disclaimers that information may not be complete or altogether accurate.
Email is a wonderful means of communication. But it, and other social media, can be demeaning and grossly inaccurate to the point of being laughable if it didn’t affect one, two or many lives.
The sorry point is, nothing advanced for consumption on social media has any requirement for being credible. Pull a thought — including flat-out lies — from the air, post it and it will be read, and usually moved along whatever stream that is handy.
We all have seen that numerous times in outlandish commentaries that would be humorous if far too many people didn’t take them as the gospel.
COMES TO mind concerns about acquisition and overindulgence of opioids beyond the confines of prescription, leading to an unacceptable number — one would be too many — of deaths each day.
Personal efforts should be made to curb — epidemic, or not — the misuse of social media; it also should be a national concern, albeit one with few opportunities for resolution within a nation rich in individual freedoms.
We must accept it, but rely on ourselves, our friends, our neighbors and all who care about propriety to ignore and refute evil and quirky postings. If it seems to be unlikely, there’s a good chance it is.
Do your part by not hitting the “forward” icon when something questionable surfaces. What may be humorous to one person may be degrading and hurtful to another.
— Bob Johnson
