I’m not a huge fan of satirical rants, but Jonathan Pie pretty much sums up everything I said for a long time…
Some time ago I wrote on Facebook this: „I always thought that silencing groups just makes them stronger. You need to find discourse to break through this spiral of silence (and by this, I mean listening, not convincing). Otherwise, all groups will continue to live in bubbles and just blame each other over ideology. However, when I talked to activists, the first thing I hear is, that you can not give radicals a voice. That you NEED to oppose. Well, my answer was: If they don’t have a voice (in media, your filter bubble) and are always facing penalties for their view, they grow and vote against you. I think it’s ridicoulus (and undemocratic) to silence a majority that legitmately voted for Trump or Brexit. So, discourse and accpetance of dissonance would be my advise.“
Actually, this is pretty much one of the first things you learn in sociology and media science. I looked through my old slide set from university times and I still believe, everything we need to know to interpret these things is in there: Spiral of silence, reciprocally effects, confirmation bias, agenda setting, cumulation and concord, fear of isolation… Unfortunantely, I currently don’t see much discourse to break through these effects.
Yes, there are Trump supporters celebrating their victory in undemocratic or racial ways. And yes, there are Clinton supporters who beat up Trump supporters, too. You’re both shit to me.
Let’s hope for the best and to you all: don’t worry too much, stay positive and constructive. Fight, hate and fear lead nowhere. What is constructed in your head might not be reality. We all live in filter bubbles and social media does not make it any better. This doesn’t exclude breaking out of your bubble and at least try to get a broader view. This doesn’t exclude question your own views and ideologies over and over again. This doesn’t exclude staying vigilant and take action, when it’s really due.