How Twitter Has Changed Communications
By Lauren Tousignant
I hadn’t quite realized how many assholes existed in our nation until Mother Nature reared her ugly, unpredictable head. Think back to the East Coast earthquakes, the Massachusetts tornado, or Hurricane Irene. Rather than wishing for the safety of our fellow Americans, we taunted, we teased, and we made cheap jokes.
All in 140 characters or less.
The age of Twitter has undoubtedly reshaped the field of communications. But, in addition to inflating our egos and giving meaning to the word hashtag, Twitter also stole a piece of our souls.
It's no secret that our country, and in particular, our generation, has become increasingly cynical. Regardless of where responsibility lies for our so-often-sneering attitudes, Twitter provides the ideal public platform from which we can broadcast our snarkiest statements freely.
When news of Osama bin Laden's demise broke, millions couldn’t help but hit the Twittersphere. While the majority of tweets expressed achievement and pride, some questioned the morality of applauding another human being’s violent destruction. Most notably, Pittsburgh Steeler running back Rashard Mendenhall tweeted “What kind of person celebrates death?”
The insensitivity that Mendenhall highlights perfectly demonstrates the kind of knee-jerk reaction that spawns from our latest social media monster.
Twitter gives us a guilt-free way to laugh at tragedy because, in the nature of Twitter, nearly every reaction is instantaneous—time spent reflecting on current events is time wasted.
This was especially true when Amy Winehouse died. Tweets that expressed sorrow over the untimely death of a talented artist were few and far between, but some version of "Yes, yes, yes, maybe Amy should have gone to rehab! LOL" popped up at least a dozen times.
Twitter creates an interesting space for communication that toes the line between anonymity and accountability. Even when your full name appears next to your tweets, there’s still a disconnect between your typed words and the potential repercussions they would have if spoken to someone’s face.
Our diminishing sense of compassion doesn’t just stem from this feeling of anonymity. The underlying potential for notoriety on Twitter is a subconscious drive to dismiss emotions. The wittiest users are rewarded with more followers, and the quickest to make the first joke gets the coveted retweet, regardless of how dire or severe the situation is. We'd prefer to laugh at an incident other than allow ourselves to absorb the nature of the event.
Unfortunately, it looks like we may be raising a generation of robots and sociopaths, for as long as Twitter continues to encourage our subconscious devil, our generation is sure to become increasingly desensitized.
Oh, and to all those douchebag West Coasters who tweeted snide remarks mocking our East Coast earthquake fears: I’d like to see how you would deal with the average Syracuse blizzard.
I’ve already drafted my hypothetical tweet. “Welcome to our world assholes,” I’ll post with whatever hashtag is trending. “Enjoy the shoveling.”
What? I never said that Twitter hadn’t made me an asshole too.