Hmph! That’s YOUR Opinion!

“These private lives we live must be kept private at all costs, to maintain our sanity.” – Theodicus

The court of public opinion is so much more persuasive than any lawyer could ever hope to be. Every Tom, Dick and Leroy has an opinion about everything, and unlike days gone by, they will all share those opinions with anyone who has two ears. Whether we want to hear it or not. And just stand there, nodding my head in pantomime fashion, hoping it comes off as noncommittal as it was meant.

But, unlike so many others, I don’t blame Facebook, or Twitter,or Google+, or any other of the social media sites. All they do is give people a forum for sharing those opinions with the masses instead of just in their own little worlds (of which they are kings), and while that is interesting, it doesn’t change the fact that people will be people. Which means sharing their opinions, however backwards, self-serving, and ignorant those opinions are.

It used to be that we would research everything before saying anything in public. The truly ironic thing about today’s society is that, even though we have all the tools to help us research and find out the facts, we either don’t use them, or we look in the wrong places to find the information. TMZ is not the foremost authority on what’s going on  in the world. Believe me. Plus, because anyone and everyone can post their opinions for consumption, we should be wary of each and every one, but instead we are taking them as a god’s honest truth, simply because they said it.

Most notably, in my Facebook “news” feed, there are two distinct opinions emerging on the Boston situation. On the one side are the legions of people advocating for killing this “suspect,” no questions asked. They claim that he could have explosives strapped to him and the sooner “we” take him out the better. I love how they insert themselves right into the thick of it. Then there are those on the opposite end who claim “we” need to do all “we” can to capture the “suspect” safely, so “we” can interrogate him and see what he has to say for himself. The whole “innocent until proven guilty” contingent. And both groups are incredibly vocal  because they KNOW they’re right, and the other side is wrong. They don’t see any middle ground because they see in black and white. And that’s OKAY because that’s what opinions are. But when we try to foist our opinions on other people, that’s the problem.

Everyone has become an expert, and everyone’s opinion has gained the same weight as everyone else’s. It’s scary, actually, that people who actually know what’s going on, who have the facts, are being herded into the same lifeboat as every Tom, Dick and Leroy who throws up a blog and vilifies or glorifies whatever he will, regardless of facts. And we will fight to the death to assure everyone that we are indeed correct, that our opinion should indeed hold the kind of weight it seems to hold even though we know nothing.

So, no, I don’t blame social media for the problem, but I do think we should take what we read with a grain of salt (hmmm, wonder where this phrase came from? I must research it). Then, we should throw that salt right over our (left) shoulder, and keep moving on with our day. So we can watch more goat videos on youTube.

Sam