adventures of s

I am SO incredibly tired of people complaining about social media, on social media. Actual things I read today: “Why I wont change my profile picture to support France” “Why do we care about France when other attacks happen all the time” “This red cup is ruining my life” (okay the last one was not a direct quote, you get the idea). This generation is in a weird limbo state. The internet and social media is still evolving--its relatively new, although a lot of you reading this wont remember a time without it. The world is currently still adjusting to this. News that until VERY recently wouldn’t have gotten to us in the ‘developed’ world is being spread to the entire earth at once via twitter. Some true, some false. There’s really no way of knowing right away. Switching gears to my main point...

Marginalization of people groups has happened and IS happening all over the world, in every single country (thats right, even in North America). And unfortunately it’s still happening, and now it’s online. I think that thing that is getting people rilled up now-a-days though is that its so visible. Before, news sources and governments could so easily hide this marginalization (some countries still succeed in doing this).  But like I said before, twitter and social media gives the entire world 100% unfiltered news, sometimes while the event is still happening. Its a new ‘transparent’ world we’re in. People at the soccer (football) match in Paris were finding out about the explosions and shootings from twitter and texts on their smartphones, before authorities were even communicating with them to remain within the stadium. It’s a new world people. 

So yes. It’s unfair that Paris was so highly focused on when many other attacks happened, and are happening across the globe. That doesn’t have to do with someones personal opinions. I think it has to do more with the personal interests of all people, and the things we’ve been raised to care about and value. We live in an world were resources and wealth are distributed so incredibly unequally, with those in power having the greatest access. This unequal distribution leads to the marginalization of people groups, typically by the people in power (I’m not pointing any fingers, but I’m sure you can think of an example yourself). Maybe it’s the fault of our past (and present) racist laws that have something to do with it, maybe it’s just that Paris has better internet connection than Lebanon. Changing your profile picture wont change the world. But it also doesn’t mean your an apathetic global citizen. What you can do though, is educate yourself (and others) on the marginalization that is happening around you, every single day. Also understand that social media isn’t going away. like, ever. It’s an extension of who people and businesses are, whatever that looks like, so don’t be a jerk, cause none of you are jerks in person :)

 Honestly, just show love and compassion for everyone and understand that not everyone has the same opinion as you, or the same lifestyle as you. And thats ok. The world is diverse even though it may feel so close at times.