Be more alert, but less judgemental

Getting carried away while using the social media has its plus side. Justice can be served quickly, as in the case of a road hooligan who spotted cutting lanes and then repeatedly cutting in front of another car whose driver had offended him with a reproachful signal. The street menace was quickly arrested and thrown in jail after his recorded behaviour went viral on the Internet. There are countless other such cases where social networkers have mobilised aid quickly to those in need and pointed the authorities in the right direction. Politically, the social media, divided like the rest of the country, have helped keep people on their toes, exposing or decrying potential corruption and rights abuses at the first scent.

The negative side, of course, has to do with overreaction and false judgement. Everyone knows you can’t believe everything on your computer screen, and who really knows what is true and what isn’t? For weeks a Dutch teenager kept her Facebook friends bewildered and envious with pictures of her “exotic” outings around Southeast Asia. IN truth, she was home the whole time, the photos taken at Asian temple and restaurant near her. It was an experiment to prove how easy it was to fake, distort or manipulate information on the social media, she said.

No one got hurt in her case, and her point is well taken, since it confirms that harmful practices have a huge and convenient stage online. People share anger, joy or sympathy on the social media, but that they do so sincerely doesn’t mean they have immunity against manipulators. 

On the social networks the first information shared after any event is usually one-sided. That is dangerous Because, if someone with 550 friends wants to discredit a person, the malice will materialise quickly. And we can’t underestimate the peer pressure or the urge to get on our high horse when on the social media. When a rider on the Skytrain loudly reprimanded two women kissing, the whole heated argument was taped. The clip was widely circulated on the Internet and the affectionate duo was pilloried.

The more widespread and powerful the social media are, the more we need to be careful and less judgmental. The same ethics that have been guiding the mainstream media – cross-checking facts and not rushing to judgement, for example – must be applied more in cases such as when celebrities are caught in sex scandals. 

While the social media can be quicker in mobilising good deeds, victims of unjust “reports” also tend to suffer more. The social media’s reach is much broader than that of the traditional media, which in turn pick up on the Internet gossip and help amplify it. 

The social and conventional media can supplement each other and form a formidable social and political watchdog. The tricky part is how both can be more alert and less judgmental. The social media are a new weapon that everyone loves to use, so it’s not easy to find the right balance. Holding back on judgement, however, should be the way to start, because the new tool that is supposed to counterbalance social injustices must not become its own worst enemy.