I agree with what Professor Massie says about how social
media constantly bombards us with shallow, relatively unimportant information,
but I disagree with what he says about critical reflection and examination
being ghosts that need to be resurrected.
Almost every day, I see posts that deeply examine various pieces of
media. I’ve seen people argue that
Dumbledore is far from the hero he is made out to be, and is instead a terrible
person who hurt a huge number of people in the name of the greater good. I’ve seen people argue that the version of
Barry Allen on CW’s The Flash has
depression and talk about how that explains why he acts the way he does in
certain episodes. Recently, I’ve seen
scores of people talking about why the recent revelation that Steve Rogers is a
member of HYDRA, an organization very closely associated with the Nazis, is
such a slap in the face to the two Jewish men who created him.
I also see a lot of posts from people critically examining
current and past events, such as the Black Lives Matter movement, the gay
rights movement, the Flint water crisis, and the current state of Detroit’s
public schools. I see posts examining
the history leading up to these current issues and criticizing the system that
allows these issues to persist.
I have learned so much more than I would have without social
media. I have learned how other people
live. I have learned how life is
different for people in other countries, people living in poverty, people
belonging to minority groups, and people with disabilities. Overall, I have become a much more informed
and open-minded person through my experiences on social media.
Sure, there will always be silly videos of cats and stupid quizzes
claiming to be able to guess how old you are or where you’re from based on the
answers you choose, but if you follow the right people and look in the right
places, you can find plenty of the “sublime.”
(This blog post is a reaction to the one that can be found here: ponderingprof.blogspot.com.)
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