Would We?

“Americans no longer talk to each other, they entertain each other. They do not exchange ideas, they exchange images. They do not argue with propositions; they argue with good looks, celebrities and commercials.”
― Neil Postman

Would we normally shout in the face of our friends?

If you stood in front of those same friends, would we?

In the normal course of social media, we have different ways to express ourselves through heated opinion. It can be easy to rage about what is wrong with others.

Take a look at your Facebook account. When you add people to your account, you proclaim them as a friend. This is called "friending" and we do this in order to share our lives with those we call friends.

We then begin to shout in the face of our friends.

If you stood in front of those same friends, would we?

So many good things can come from social media. It can be the sharing of one's life with those we are too far from. A way to share a picture of that great meal or the vacation hot spot we enjoyed so much.

Before the advent of smartphones and readily available computers, we invited people into our home for coffee and cake. A movie projector or photo album was then revealed to share our memories.

Would we shout our rage about the other travelers?

If we sat in front of those same friends, would we.

Yet social media causes us to do just that ... shout and yell of the divide that we ourselves are creating. It clouds those posts we want to show which are the good things.

All of it gets lost in the noise of the provocation we so easily post. The political and religious extremes and intolerance whether perceived or relative divides us.

Would we rather unite or is it division we seek?

If we gathered our friends, would we?

This very article will likely get lost in the noise of division created. Facebook and other social media outlets will continue to be as crowded as the highways with road rage.

My hope is we can see through the darkness which keeps the sides so far apart. That maybe we can bring more light into the conversation and possibly closer to an agreeable disagreement.

Would we speak in more friendly tones to each other?

If we sat with our friends and just talked, would we?

Stay inspired my friends.