Variety is the spice of life – unless we’re talking about opinions on Covid-19.
For me, one of the most challenging aspects of social media throughout this strange and surreal period of lockdown has been the self-inflicted reminders, as I scroll mindlessly through Facebook, that I have friends, family and acquaintances that hold extremely different opinions about this pandemic than I do.
How do you respond when people you thought you knew appear to be drawing conclusions about the pandemic that simply cannot be reconciled with your own?
Do you turn a blind eye? Do you engage in debate? Or do you communicate exclusively by means of passive aggression, hoping to settle your differences without ever actually speaking to each other?
Some think Covid is a hoax – I don’t. Some think lockdown is not the answer – I am open to these arguments.
Others believe wearing masks is pointless – I’m not qualified to say, so I wear one to be on the safe side. And some think Donald Trump is really the good guy, covertly using his power to rid the world of celebrity paedophiles – I think he’s the antichrist.
While it might feel that these fundamental differences of opinion have grown out of the current crisis, in truth, my family, friends and I have always had different outlooks on life.
We’ve always held opposing views in certain areas.
All that’s changed is the vehicle through which our opinions are expressed – instead of talking to each other, we write statuses on Facebook.
I have friends who hate the BBC – I work for the BBC.
I have mates who despise the mainstream media – I write for a tabloid every week. I have family who believe they are in commune with inter-dimensional spirits – I think they are mental.
I grew up with people who see no value in political participation – I’ve been an activist since I was 16 years old. I have friends who hate the police – I collaborated with the Violence Reduction Unit.
I have friends who think Eminem isn’t real hip hop – I have been a massive Eminem fan since I was a kid.
I could go on all day here.
The people who hold views different to my own have never been shy about expressing them – I just decided not to take their opinions personally.
The point is that none of these differences of opinion ever threatened or damaged any of my relationships.
They may have led to some spirited, drink-fuelled verbal sparring sessions but I never thought less of anyone for their beliefs.
While I am not one for ducking a difficult conflict, and I reserve the right to escalate disagreements to Defcon One if I feel it necessary, I also believe sites like Facebook are the real problem here.
They are not just benevolent platforms through which we may proclaim our opinions. Something happens to us when we use it.
Words become open to interpretation in dangerous ways.
Social media sites encourage us to impulsively enlarge upon our opinions, whatever they may be, but to do so in such a way that increases the likelihood of disagreement, controversy and misunderstanding.
Post a picture of a rock online and see how long it takes for someone to call you a bigot.
Post a photo of your kids playing out the back and see how long it takes before the thread degenerates into an argument about late-stage capitalism.
Right now, we are all judging each other based on our opinions on Covid-19.
People are either “sheeple”, blindly obeying government, or they are tin-foil hat conspiracy nuts.
I reckon the truth is something few of us have correctly identified – we are all willing prisoners in the nightmarish Plato’s Cave of social media.
