Sir, – There has been much recent discussion on ways we can limit or moderate our use of social media. It is still a relatively new medium, and we are still struggling with its many pitfalls.
There are of course plenty of problems with old forms of social interaction too, but also much to be said in its favour. The unwritten rules that moderate face to face interactions have been refined over millennia. In his poem The Star-Splitter, Robert Frost captures some of this traditional wisdom. The speaker in the poem explains why his rural community do not ostracise Bradford, who they suspect of burning down his house for insurance so he should buy a telescope: “If one by one we counted people out/For the least sin, it wouldn’t take us long/To get so we had no one left to live with.”
While Bradford’s action seems an extreme example of a small sin, the general principles of accepting faults in others and tolerating difference or perceived peculiarities are laudable. The speaker in the poem disapproves, and fails to understand, but accepts the transgression nonetheless, concluding that “. . . to be social is to be forgiving”.
Smartphones and social media have created a world where this no longer applies. There is no sense that we will run out of people. If thousands are counted out, millions still remain. In the vast emptiness of virtual space there is no soil for compassion to take root. People seem far more numerous, far less real, and entirely dispensable. To be social on social media is not to be forgiving but, all too often, involves being, or at least appearing to be, holier than thou and better than thou. Points are scored according to modern notions of piety and people try to rise in hierarchies with very specific measures, such as likes and views or number of followers.
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Spite and vitriol have proved effective tools for gaining attention and many end up saying some of the worst things they have ever said to people they will never meet as they navigate this frantic and sometimes callous space.
In contrast, while the speaker in Frost’s thinks Bradford reprehensible and foolish, he accepts his peculiarity in wanting a telescope, and even joins him for a convivial evening star gazing. “We . . . pointed our thoughts the way we pointed it,/And standing at our leisure till the day broke,/Said some of the best things we ever said.”
Social media has enormous potential for developing global communications for the good, and in a world where many of our problems are global in scale it could be a vital tool for navigating modern challenges. We need to get better at it. The old ways of doing things won’t work and we must change with the times.
Nevertheless, it is important to do so advisedly and much good advice can be found in the lessons learnt and wisdom gained in the past. – Yours, etc,
COLIN WALSH,
Templeogue,
Dublin 6W.