Damaging side of social media

THE EDITOR: Is there anyone not on social media today? While being an excellent form of communication and being very informative, social media can also reveal an inner dark side of some people.

I had the cause, unfortunately, to block a couple of former co-workers and neighbourhood individuals from my WhatsApp connection, people with whom I would normally have had pleasant associations. People whose views on non-political issues I respect.

In TT, given some people’s matter-of-fact idolisation of the political party they support and now using this new forum to express such, it is exposing (apparently without they being conscious of it) an inner vindictiveness that they appear to have long held for the main opponent of the party they idolise.

Prior to the advent of social media, when friends gathered at bars or other communal get-togethers, opposing but lighthearted vocal political opinions were generally stress-free and disregarded by the time the crowds dispersed.

Today, with the frequency and astonishing degree of animosity expressed by political leaders and their associates via the printed and electronic media and public meetings, it would seem the once normally laid-back, face-to-face political bantering among average citizens has now taken an about turn.

Social media is now offering made-up videos of established political leaders that are not only demeaning but, in some cases, bordering on carnal. And here we are talking about videos of the top people of our two major parties.

And since there’s little or no official reaction, even from politicians on the receiving end of these videos, this makes one wonder if it is a tit-for-tat game? Because if it is, while each may have elicited a measure of humiliating focus on their opponents, are they not aware of the never-ending seeds of hatred they continue to plant among some citizens who determinedly view others as different from themselves?

We average citizens really need to grasp the length and depth that this any-which-way avaricious desire for political power is exploited and reject anyone or organisation that promotes it. Can’t the origin of these videos be traced and the fabricators exposed?

Who are the real victims of these degrading, humiliating videos of our supposedly respected leaders? Children, young people and the ill-informed – and easily influenced mature adults, of course.

We are very aware that today’s children are attracted to an electronic device more than the most sophisticated toy. That’s why most of them are more computer-savvy than lots of adults. We know that these videos can have a negative influence on mature adults, but can anyone say for sure what they are doing to our teens and young adults?

We’d be in denial if we overlook the precarious potential these debasing videos of our leaders carry.

It’s an established fact that 90 per cent of TT citizens are politically red or yellow. And these distasteful videos maintain or even promote internal tribal discrimination.

We must always be reminded that although we are of different races and backgrounds and live in different communities and countries, we all live and depend on the sustenance and peace of one planet – Earth.

LLOYD RAGOO

Chaguanas