We never had this conversation about bloggers a decade or two ago.
In the past, it was difficult to get one’s voice across. Being given a platform from which to air one’s thoughts on anything, from the mundane to the profound, was a privilege. One had to be really good, or really well-connected, or both.
These days it’s a free for all. Technology has given everybody an opportunity to create his or her own channel, whatever the purpose—expression, posterity, advocacy, self-aggrandizement. The fact that web logs can be read by anybody anywhere so long as there is Internet access lends the practice an aura of credibility. Operative word: aura.
Social media platforms, on the other hand, were initially thought to bridge gaps created by distance between friends and family. One could share thoughts or photos, or converse with another, creating an intimacy that could rival, even surpass, face-to-face interaction.
But like any tool, the Internet can be used for bad as for good. While it has ceased to be a novelty, the ingenious, the cunning and the malevolent have found ways to use it to their advantage.
Many promote hate and violence. Manipulate others for personal or financial gain. Assume identities, personalities or qualities. Sow confusion and fear among the people. Praise their masters to the heavens.
They blur the line between fact and fiction, befuddling the gullible and exasperating those who continue to revere the truth. When called out for their excesses, they claim they are not bound by the same standards that apply to others in the discipline. They growl at their critics in an attempt to intimidate them, curse, or say they have been joking all along.
Such jokes are never funny.
Democracy is about having numerous voices conversing, asking questions, critiquing and enlightening. Unfortunately, what is happening these days, both online and offline, perverts democracy. It gives a bad name to all the good and honest people using the Internet for valid causes.
Sadly, there is no way to rein in this free exchange of ideas except to warn those who are watching, listening or reading to be more incredulous, less trusting, and more discerning—until those feeding off our gullibility will find themselves back on the fringes of our democratic space, where they belong.