The Internet: Humans, Social Media, and Distorted Realities
At the end of the day, a face-to-face conversation over a cup of coffee or dinner is better than posting on social media; let us be very clear, it’s entertainment - but for some, it’s a lifestyle, unfortunately.
By Don Allen, Journal of A Black Teacher (Editorial Opinion)
Comedian Katt Willams (in one of his stand-up acts) said, “I’ve never seen so many influencers on
social media who don’t influence anything.” Undeniably, social media has the ability to keep people in contact with their past. In a way, it works digitally just like the scrapbook—saving moments of our lives and letting us relive them at will. Beyond personal memory, social platforms become vehicles for historical narratives. Any given day could bring out threads about the civil rights movement, posts marking a special historic event, or even simply a viral tweet citing one of the major leaders, for example, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Encounters of this sort could sometimes be educational and informative in the sense that they remember some of the long-fought, hard-won battles for society today. But are these digital encounters met with action or only carefully curated posts to gain likes? Humans like attention on social media. In the digital age, social media has been one powerful tool that connects us to the past.
It is becoming easier to revisit our personal and collective histories through these platforms, either through memories surfacing in our Facebook feeds, historical anniversaries trending on Twitter, or archived content resurfacing on Instagram. Despite this, to this day, social media manages to chain us to our past—and this brings problems that are highly complex. How often does this connection actually help? Well, does it also perpetuate these selective memories, these DISTORTED REALITIES that build toward cancel culture? Moreover, the reliving of the past in social media itself is at the mercy of cancel culture.
An old tweet or a past action can unleash an avalanche of condemnation once it surfaces, rarely making space for the context or possibility of growth and change. In these instances, the past acts as a weapon rather than a lesson. The phenomenon especially applies to politics, wherein figures such as Vice President Harris are not only examined based on current actions but also by the part of the past put into view, usually curating and prejudiced, on social media. But there is also a downside to this incessant linking to the past.
This would be an instance of the flattening of history, where complex events are reduced to hashtags or oversimplified narratives. In that environment, nuances of history easily get lost, replaced by sound bites that fit neatly in a tweet or meme. More concerning is the way social media can be weaponized to revisit and amplify past transgressions in a way that fuels cancel culture. The past is not merely remembered; more often than not, it is resurrected to shame, punish, or silence. The present political moment provides an intense example of the ways in which social media's relationship to the past can be productive but also destructive.
Consider the present debate over Vice President Kamala Harris. On the one hand, her supporters are flexing their muscles in social media to underline her past merits, confirming her historical importance as the first colored lady ever elected to the office; her detractors, on the other hand, are quite actively sharing posts and memes purporting that she is neglecting her duties—in effect rewriting her narrative in real-time. This selective memory and revisionist history, amplified by social media, may then go on to shape public perception in ways that could be at variance from reality. If anything, social media certainly serves to keep humans connected to the past, though this link is also mired in complications.
Cons of memory in the digital age: Some of the disadvantages of memory in the digital age—the use of the past to punish rather than educate—are distorted narratives and cancel culture. At the very least, one has to be critically disposed toward one's digital memories, remembering that social media shapes not only how we remember the past but also how we understand the present and envision the future.
By Don Allen, Journal of A Black Teacher (Editorial Opinion)
Comedian Katt Willams (in one of his stand-up acts) said, “I’ve never seen so many influencers on
It is becoming easier to revisit our personal and collective histories through these platforms, either through memories surfacing in our Facebook feeds, historical anniversaries trending on Twitter, or archived content resurfacing on Instagram. Despite this, to this day, social media manages to chain us to our past—and this brings problems that are highly complex. How often does this connection actually help? Well, does it also perpetuate these selective memories, these DISTORTED REALITIES that build toward cancel culture? Moreover, the reliving of the past in social media itself is at the mercy of cancel culture.
An old tweet or a past action can unleash an avalanche of condemnation once it surfaces, rarely making space for the context or possibility of growth and change. In these instances, the past acts as a weapon rather than a lesson. The phenomenon especially applies to politics, wherein figures such as Vice President Harris are not only examined based on current actions but also by the part of the past put into view, usually curating and prejudiced, on social media. But there is also a downside to this incessant linking to the past.
This would be an instance of the flattening of history, where complex events are reduced to hashtags or oversimplified narratives. In that environment, nuances of history easily get lost, replaced by sound bites that fit neatly in a tweet or meme. More concerning is the way social media can be weaponized to revisit and amplify past transgressions in a way that fuels cancel culture. The past is not merely remembered; more often than not, it is resurrected to shame, punish, or silence. The present political moment provides an intense example of the ways in which social media's relationship to the past can be productive but also destructive.
Consider the present debate over Vice President Kamala Harris. On the one hand, her supporters are flexing their muscles in social media to underline her past merits, confirming her historical importance as the first colored lady ever elected to the office; her detractors, on the other hand, are quite actively sharing posts and memes purporting that she is neglecting her duties—in effect rewriting her narrative in real-time. This selective memory and revisionist history, amplified by social media, may then go on to shape public perception in ways that could be at variance from reality. If anything, social media certainly serves to keep humans connected to the past, though this link is also mired in complications.
Cons of memory in the digital age: Some of the disadvantages of memory in the digital age—the use of the past to punish rather than educate—are distorted narratives and cancel culture. At the very least, one has to be critically disposed toward one's digital memories, remembering that social media shapes not only how we remember the past but also how we understand the present and envision the future.
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