I've never been a fan of 'modern technology' and resisted getting a mobile phone for a long time. I'm still fairly convinced that no-one's life has been greatly improved by them, and having a smart-phone might be even worse. Reasons? Well, maybe for another time ... at the moment I'm thinking more about 'social network' communication.
I do have profiles on lots of those whacky(!) social network sites, but am rarely there (how our language has made these 'places' real!) but I do have a Twitter account, although I don't court followers - I have very little of interest to say. Not really a reason not to have followers, for those of you familiar with Twitter. We're not planning a revolution soon I feel. Twitter is nice and easy to use, simple, short messages, and nicely integrated ... I use Yoono on my browser to coordinate across most of my social network profiles.
One of the people I follow is Victoria Coren. For those of you who don't know her, she's a TV presenter ('Only Connect'), poker player, and journalist - writing for The Observer. She seems a pleasant enough person, and I like a lot of what she writes (of course, this is 'like' in the peripheral sense of the internet ... not even a "thumbs up, xxxxx likes this comment"!), and she appears quite grounded and normal. However, as you might know, she's recently had a tweet-spat with Michael Winner and has discussed this in her latest column.
There appears to be some indignation on either side of this 'argument' (I'm sorry for all of these apostrophes, but I'm trying to draw a distinction - and reflect my feeling - that these internet exchanges are in no way a reflection of real ones), but overall it's been of little consequence and I'm more surprised by how much vitriol has been expressed in comments about the spat, rather than the exchange itself. And that's what I find more worrying.
You see, the internet - and specifically Twitter - is a very public forum. That's one of its central tenets; that all are equal. So tweeting is a bit like everyone having their own spot down at Speaker's Corner and shouting out whatever they fancy. Okay, you can to some extent direct your comments but that's only the difference between shouting, "I hate blonde women" and shouting, "Oi! You over there. I hate blonde women". And in that sort of environment you're bound to hear a lot of things you don't like, or disagree with. Now, you can engage in discourse on the matter, but most people (and especially those expressing a public opinion) aren't going to be dissuaded from their course by your words. Not when you have only your own spot to shout from, and only 140 characters to shout with. So, if you hear something you don't like, best to leave well alone. If it's that defamatory then there are other ways and means to seek redress. By responding you only add to the publicity that's often sought by these people. In fact, there is a recent tweet at Derren Brown, calling him a variety of names and saying his act was a sham. I only know of this because Derren re-tweeted it. I've a feeling the tweeter in question was merely engaged in a game with some friends to insult and outrage as many celebs as possible. Something they are free to do of course, but something that is best left as unpublicised as possible. But then again Derren makes his living from obfuscation, so I'm a little wary in this instance ...
So, and this is my point, the internet isn't real life. In real life I communicate with people that I know, in a manner which I modify based upon what I know about this person, and what my relationship is with them. It's 'personal' after all. But in this non-real world, we tend to know very little about people we're communicating with, and all too often treat these people in the same manner we do those that we do know. And I think this is where a lot of miscommunication arises, in that our familiarity of communication, which is easily welcomed by our friends, is more prey to misinterpretation when there is no history of face-to-face communication. Add to that a for-shortened, disembodied method of communication, and there's bound to be problems. So the next time you take umbrage at something take a moment or two to consider that there's some misunderstanding taking place. And if there really isn't then best move on. Be the better man.
One final point. It's crazy to expect that everyone we meet in life will share our opinions and values, nor that they will change their opinions because of ours. That's the diversity that binds us and makes us strong. As an adult you come to realise that. But irrespective of how much I might disagree with you and your opinions, I'm not going to wish you physical ill and violence because of it. I am troubled when people seem to have such hatred and appear to want to incite violence based upon what they think they know about an individual. I find that more troubling than a harsh exchange of words; that people so readily want to drop the discourse and recommend violence.
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