Today I found out that a good friend of mine quit Facebook. I was astounded --
he had just been filled with such righteous indignation about the election, and
big ideas about the change that we needed to bring about. How could he bring
about that change if he removed the best tool for talking to people?
But the more we talked, the more convinced I was that he had it right.
On the night of the election, Stephen Colbert talked about
poison:
You take a little bit of it so you can hate the other side. And it tastes
kind of good. And you like how it feels. And there's a gentle high to the
condemnation, right? And you know you're right, right? You know you're right.
Social media is at the center of this. Facebook is designed to give you this
high. It is designed to give you exactly what you want to see/hear, because
that keeps you coming back and lets them serve you more ads.
We craft echo chambers for ourselves. We are increasingly convinced we are
right and the other side is wrong, and if we ever do happen to come in contact
with someone from the other side, we talk past each other until we're blue in
the face. Anger and indignation prevail, reason and empathy fail.
In the last three days I've seen very few productive conversations happening on
social media. We try to empathize, we try to make our points. But without the
human connection of one-on-one communication, we make no progress. We high five
those that agree with us and ignore those who don't. We may not even realize
we're ignoring anyone -- the Facebook algorithm is making that choice for us.
TechCrunch says the Facebook bubble just
popped. They're right. Read that
story, and realize the dangers of the echo chamber. Facebook does more harm
than good.
In his last
post
before quitting Facebook, my friend Mike made some cogent points about our
rejection of fact in favor of our echo chambers:
After a century of prosperity, we started to believe that we knew better than
what newspapers told us, or scientists told us, or economists told us. We
stopped believing in classical books by great thinkers and started believing in
podcasts. In even the best cases, we fired articles at each other instead of
arguments. What’s more, we thought that our skepticism of expertise was the
fault of the expert and not our own. We built the Internet in hopes that it
would foster the greatest exchange of ideas in human history. Hopes of that
nobility have been diminished.
This election is a lot of things but above all, it’s cultural hubris boiled
over.
He goes on to talk about our rejection of fact-based media in favor of our
little social media worlds:
Collectively, we rejected newspapers, nearly bankrupted them and then
wondered what happened to the fourth estate. I’m not so sure that we should be
as outraged as ashamed.
One of my favorite quotes:
If you are unwilling to accept facts that do not align with your view of
reality, you are the most dangerous kind of coward.
But Mike doesn't leave us without a call to action.
So, if you want to be angry, be angry — for a while, at least.
When you’re done, though, go out and buy a newspaper subscription to every
single publication that you can afford to support. Do this not just for papers
which lean in your direction but any paper which has reputable, hard-working
reporters who are dedicated to shining a light where it needs to shine. Read
all of them. Every day.
When they report the facts, accept them as facts — not as a hypothesis which
has its truth contingent on the institution which presented it.
And, too, when they editorialize, accept that as opinion from people who
understand the world in a sophisticated way. Admire that sophistication, even
if you do not agree with its conclusions.
Do not conflate facts and opinions. Even if you are wrong five percent of the
time and bias sneaks into reporting, accept it and move on. Stop throwing
babies out with bathwater.
Finally, find a friend, if you can, and see where there might be common
ground to stand on.
The waters rise fast and we only survive if we hold on to each other.
Stronger together.
Last night I spent a solid two hours talking to two of my best friends while we
ate tacos after playing basketball. It was a productive, respectful
conversation. I learned things and grew, and we didn't just talk past each
other. Granted, this was helped by the fact that we have similar views, but it
was refreshing all the same.
I want more of those nights. I want to have smaller, real conversations with
people. I want to learn and grow. I want to be more than just retweets and
likes.
So here's my plan: I plan to get back to my subscription to The Economist and
The Washington Post. I plan to read fact-based reporting and editorializing and
form my own opinions.
But as importantly, I have to get out of my echo chamber. And I'm less and less
willing to feed into the machine that caused this: Facebook.
In a few days, after most people who will see this post have seen it, I will
likely disable my Facebook account.
Twitter is harder. I love Twitter: It's the poison I crave. But I think it has
to go as well, at least for awhile. So I'll be taking a break.
But that doesn't mean that I don't want to talk. In fact, I want to talk more
than ever. But I don't want to do it on Facebook or Twitter.
Call me. Text me. Let's go grab a drink (soda for me) or some lunch and chat.
Let's make real relationships, and have real conversations.
And let's stop drinking the poison.
colton.myers@gmail.com // 801-999-8328