OK, it’s embarrassing, but here’s how it went down.
You posted a thought in a public forum on the World Wide Web, clearly exercising your American right to free speech. I saw what you wrote, and I—OK, pardon me, because this is really hard to confess in public—I actually wrote back.
I know! I know! What was I thinking! Right?
All I can say for myself now is that it seemed like a good idea at the time. You know—a free exchange of ideas amongst mature adults and such. But now, in retrospect, I can’t fathom what I was thinking. I actually dared to disagree with your post and even went so far as to call your assertion into question while posting a hyperlink to contrary facts on a reputable website!
Well, I have to admit that I didn’t see my fault at the time. No, when I clicked to submit my reply, I thought I was doing a good thing by setting the record straight. But now I see that that’s just not what Facebook is about. And now that this has been pointed out to me, I can understand why nobody ever replied to my correction with things like:
- “Oh, I didn’t know that.” Or,
- “Dang, I was wrong!” Or,
- “OK, Jack, I read the source you cited and I found it compelling, but I’d like to read at least one or two more sources before making up my mind. Please send more information.”
This is because Facebook simply isn’t about correcting others or working together to get the facts straight.
You know, the more I think about it, that old saying comes to mind: “to a hammer, everything’s a nail”. So there I was, hammer that I am, expecting that bad assertions on Facebook were nails already set and ready to be hammered upon. But now I can see that that sort of behavior is frowned upon in this establishment.
Lesson learned: Facebook simply isn’t about correcting others or getting the facts straight. No, it’s about something much more noble than that. It’s about having the freedom to express oneself with utter impunity on one’s own timeline. Even if that expression is agitated, uncivil, irrational, hateful, or ill-informed, it’s sacred by Facebook paradigms, and even your best and dearest friends who disagree with you and think that you’re being a complete idiot are bound not to disagree with you in print. And why not? Because they are your “friends” and they care more about keeping the virtual peace than they do about correcting you or setting the record straight.
Once upon a time, the average joe had no viable means of self publishing. And in a great many cases, this was a very good thing! But now that joe has the power of Facebook, he propagates his own untested ideas, doubts, and assertions throughout his circle of influence in this hearsay culture of ours and life is not as good as it once was. He is now superjoe–intensified beyond his natural lackluster into a virtual brilliance to be emulated by all his superjoe “friends”—half of whom egg him on by “liking” what he writes even when they have doubts about it themselves…..and some of whom will thrust the matter into warp drive by “sharing” it untested on their own timelines.
Fortunately, there are still a few who believe in thinking through a thing before publishing it, in looking up a rarely-used word before using it, in checking facts before asserting them, and in providing sources for controversial or important claims. And every once in a while, you can even find someone who has the sense to be grateful to be aptly corrected. So here’s to a higher hope for human behavior! We all have the power to be rational, honest, and self-corrective people and these things are simply independent of one’s IQ. Rather, it’s a matter of will.
“I aspire, Sir, to be better than I am.” ~ Lt. Commander Data [Star Trek Nemesis Paramount Pictures, 2002]
