Ever notice how most actions are centered around punishing someone? Is there no redemption??
I am baader-meinhoff phenom-ing hard on this right now. Punishment is especially a central point of online spaces. There isn't so much celebration of virtuous or great actions but denigrating things that one doesn't like. I am also predispositioned to this programming as well.
Any idea why this is or where it comes from? I get the sense it is all encompassing. You can go on twitter and there's someone else being canceled or how a politician is bad for their opinion. When it really doesn't matter much. It just all seems like a vast entertainment center where next week you'll be on the main cast of death match for downvoting a corporate BLM video.
There is nuance to suss out with this. There is a distinction to be made between something you don't like with hurtful behavior. If you don't like someone's opinion it doesn't mean they should be punished. Maybe this is a throwback to Christian morals?
I think this will change by necessity. I don't remember every dumb thing I said for shock value as a teenager, but most of it was over AIM/4Chan so it isn't going to haunt me. Now that people are born into social media, however, it's only a matter of time before we begin to realize that everyone has some embarrassing shit that they've said or done in their past, including the people we respect most. My hope is that this will make it easier to forgive one another.