Social Media and Politics

"People are funny. If you sit here and say even the smallest bit about the Martin-Zimmerman case, or God forbid you put up a picture expressing your concern for our future and justice system-- you are automatically accused of following a crowd/fad. Funny, 'Cause i'm sure if nothing was said/posted we would be accused of not caring, being heartless and uninformed/uneducated. So much for us feeling the pain of our fellow brothers and sisters, so much for this universal equality that we keep preaching. 'Cause when its all said and done and we do react as one--it's not taken seriously." ~t.berry


I would have to say that the two, social media and politics, never coincide very well.  There always seems to be a huge uproar of widespread opinions from so many different sides that everything just becomes overwhelming.  At times, I dislike when everyone is chatting up one specific hot topic on Facebook because it makes my timeline a mono-toned lecture.  It can get catty and even offensive.  However, I still stand by the saying, "to each his own."  Everyone has their own page and is entitled to their first amendment right of free speech and I have the opportunity to just scroll on by and leave things be.  Sometimes, it's just not that serious.

Today, though, with the Martin-Zimmerman case and the impending verdict, Facebook, Twitter and every other type of social network was full of the hate, accusations, pain and various expressions of opinions regarding the issue.  I couldn't be on FB for more than two minutes because my patience ran extremely thin.  I won't take this time to express my view on what I think happened but I will say that only two people know the true happenings of that evening and one of them is no longer with us.  People chose to show their respects with a blacked out profile picture and/dressed in hoodies, posting statuses and poems and excerpts.  That, to me, showed a tremendous sense of unity in a time of pain-- people taking out the time to reflect on an unfortunate event.

And while this beautiful moment was taking place, of course there were those pessimists who seem to think everything is a passing fad.  Those, "Oh, you just talking bout this because everybody else is," or " You putting up pics as if its gonna help the situation."  This had my blood boiling.  Why is it such an issue when people try to show respect/concern for a common cause or event?  Why do we get so angered by an event being a hot topic but when everyone is in cargos and a polo tee don't 'nobody no how' seem to care?  Maybe it's because these events hit too close to home and touch something in us that we would much rather ignore.  Maybe it's too uncomfortable and inconvenient for us.

These uncomfortable situations should fuel us into making a change-- whether it be public or not.  Its a time to reassess ourselves and our communities, how we treat each other and think about things, how we react. . .