Last week I wrote an article about the "Let's Go Brandon" chant and the lack of respect shown to President Biden while he was in the White House. I did a little social experiment on Threads when I shared my post: I said we should respect "The President" and not be vulgar and obscene. This was a factual summary of my article, though I did not name names in the Threads post.
People did not click the link, much less read the article. But in less than 12 hours over one thousand people assumed (incorrectly) that it was about President Trump and became furiously angry, calling both me and President Trump a bunch of names - in a post that had nothing at all to do with President Trump. Many, many F bombs were posted in the replies to my post.
And here is the lesson: We all need to develop a longer attention span. We see something that triggers our emotions, and then react. Social media has exacerbated this, especially with screenshots of arguments taken out of context. We do not bother reading beyond the headlines or small quote. We do not examine what someone has actually said about his own side before we reflectively call him a "hypocrite" for criticisms of our side. We certainly do not bother fact-checking negative claims about someone from the other political tribe before we share them.
Note I wrote "we all" above, because I am just as guilty of reading a headline, reacting negatively, and then being embarrassed because I did not actually do the work to understand what I was writing about. It is easy to pick on someone else, but many of us have been guilty of it. We all need to do better, and I am writing as much to myself as the people reading this post.
So here's the lesson. Slow down. Take a breath before you explode in anger. Do not just read the headline. If you cannot be bothered to read beyond the headline, do not expect your "response" to be treated with respect. Develop a longer attention span. Fact check your claims before you post something false. And, above all else, go outside and touch grass.
We need a longer attention span
If you cannot be bothered to read beyond the headline, do not expect your "response" to be treated with respect.
