I live in a bubble, totally removed from the real world. My remote location is ill-served by the media. Located between two of this state's larger cities, Ripley is too far (unless a major crime is involved) for their press coverage. Scant attention is given to national and international news.
Ripley has two weekly papers whose content focuses primarily on high school sports, community events, society news, and major crime events. No hard-hitting journalism here. No crusading for a cause, state or national politics, or investigative pieces. President Obama's historic elections were ignored. A bubble.
This quote is attributed to Tom Clancy; however, Cathy Hughes said this every day on her D.C., radio station, WOL 1450. From one radio station, she has gone on to become the first African American woman to head a media company publicly traded on the U.S. Stock Exchange....Information, knowledge, is power. If you can control information, you can control the people.
To stay abreast of what is happening outside of the 471.99 square miles in which I live, I use the internet for news. I enjoy the D.C., hometown papers, although it is not the same as holding one and turning the pages, and articles from other publications.
I use FaceBook (FB) exhaustively to peruse the major news feeds. The proliferation of games, apps, and silly stuff is of no interest. However, it is a great tool to use for keeping in touch with friends and connecting with people who share similar interests. I had no idea that there were so many decorating, cooking, gardening, music, historical, genealogical groups and more, out there. Wow! My world has expanded.
But there is a down side. I not only read the article of interest but read the comments as well. In my naivety, I assumed that most people are sane, rational, courteous human beings. WOW! The hatred and vitriol expressed is mind-boggling. Talking about a rude awakening.
Case in point. I read an article on the failure of the Florida jury to find Dunn guilty of first degree murder for killing Jordan Davis. You know that I'll be only too happy to expound on that in another post. I made the mistake of reading the comments. Most were reasoned statements. But there was one "troll," one obnoxious person who took the opportunity to inject his vile hatred after comments on the thread. "Thug nigga," "nigga," over and over. I finally blocked him and reported it as objectionable hate speech.
FB looked into my complaint and responded that they did not find that his comments violated their standard of community values. Really? He sure as hell violated mine. Don't misunderstand. I know that everyone doesn't share the same thoughts, values, and so on. I can deal with the delusional rants about the President (up to a point), his policies, the demonization of him and his family. Clearly they haven't done their research. Facts mean nothing to them. Pointing out that he has set no new precedents is a waste of time. Swallowing Fox News' kool-aid by the boatload. Or, they just hate having a Black President. Yes, I said it.
What causes my surprise is the sheer number of hateful people and the depth of their hatred. I can only surmise that they hide behind their computer screens, with an assurance of anonymity (after all, we will never meet them), and spew vitriol.
Yes, moving to Tennessee was a culture shock in more ways than one. Hatred is a shock to my soul. Bubble busted.
Be safe. Be Blessed.
2 comments:
If I hadn't had neighbors, in the 90's, that called me 'Nigger" and every other derogatory term they could think of, because I did the neighborly thing and said hello to another of our neighbors they happened to not like because she married a Filipino man (she was white) to the point I had to file a hate crime charge, My bubble would have been burst when I joined Facebook as well. The ones who irk me the most are the ones who are not only hateful, but will attack others who do not share their opinion, something they would likely not do if they were face to face.
Definitely know racism but the extreme hatred and vileness just blows the mind. I commented on Mitt Romney's statement that Pres. Clinton embarrassed the nation and this woman went off with her rant about Pres. Obama. Excuse me? Of course, it was just an opportunity for her to vent but the thread was about Romney. Since she couldn't grasp that fine point, I finally told her that she was delusional and blocked her. Insane.
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