In theory, it seems like Facebook could be a wonderful
tool for equipping the voting public with relevant information and analysis and
for generating political discussion at the grassroots level. And sometimes it
is. But at other times, political speech on Facebook seems to be doing more
harm than good. Here are some of the problems I see:
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Human beings have always been prone to make judgmental
(and often nasty) comments behind each other’s backs. And what better arena in
which to judge people than politics? The thing about Facebook is that somehow
people feel free to make exactly the kind of judgmental (and often nasty) comments
that have always been made in private, but now in a semi-public setting. People
on the left and right are now party to all the mean, uncharitable, deliberately
ignorant remarks made about them by the other side. The kind of ad hominem attacks
that would be considered extremely rude at politically mixed in-person
gatherings is normal online.
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The tone of righteous self-expression tends to
preclude discussion. People often feel they have a moral obligation to share
highly combative political statements. Such individuals feel that they are
standing up for a worthy cause. But what are they really accomplishing? The
tone of self-righteousness indicates to people who disagree that their views are
being summarily dismissed. It is apparent that the poster has no interest in
finding out why people might disagree with her or him and whether there might
be any merit in arguments against his or her position.
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Even when discussion happens, it tends to be of
a strident, polemical nature. When we get into debates on Facebook, we are not
addressing each other as individuals—we are addressing the crowd. Whether
consciously or unconsciously, we feel pressured to write whatever will make us
look good to our imagined sympathizers in the audience, rather than actually
trying to communicate. We are less likely to admit we were wrong or ask for
clarification. We feel we should write concise “zingers” for the crowd to
applaud.
Perhaps others can add to this list. But anyway, what to
do? Well, for myself, here’s what I’ve come up with so far:
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I try not to post or write anything that would
be rude to say in-person to someone who disagrees with me. (If you’re not sure
whether something is okay, you might picture someone you know personally who is
on the “other side” and ask yourself whether you would say this to their face.)
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I try to cultivate an attitude of humility. I make
it a point to actively fight the natural human inclination toward
self-righteousness. I remind myself that I don’t know everything, that I am
sometimes wrong, and that I have a lot to learn from people who disagree with me.
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When I engage in political debates on Facebook,
I repeatedly tell myself that I am not writing to make myself look good; I am
trying to understand what the other person is saying and to make myself
understood. I try to write only what is conducive to clear communication.
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If I find that a discussion has degenerated into
a polemical tit-for-tat, I call a time-out. I do whatever I can to clear the
slate and start over. This may include apologizing for my part in taking the conversation
down an unfruitful path; stating that it was not my intention to pick a fight
and what I really want is to understand what the other person is saying and to
share my thoughts and feelings; and my latest strategy, which I’m just now
developing is to TAKE IT OFF FACEBOOK(!)—perhaps by switching over to private
messaging, but probably even better, by meeting in-person, writing a physical
letter on actual paper(!!!), or even talking on the phone.
I know a number of people who are very political on
Facebook because they have a strong desire to make a positive difference in the
world. That is highly commendable. I think it would help a little bit for such
people to move the tenor of online political discussions in a kinder direction.
And I think the biggest difference we can make in the world is by loving our “enemies”
one-on-one. That is, by taking the time and making the effort to communicate
meaningfully with someone we think needs to change. And if we’re doing it right, we’ll find out
from them what we didn’t know we were missing ourselves.
Comments?
