These are the icons of just a few of the social networking sites available. How many have you participated in? Now I’ll admit that social networks are very helpful and have been a great
asset for the political spectrum. They allow people to share their beliefs with the world,
not just their local community. But this great stage for sharing has also
opened up new doors for disagreement and rudeness. In a study recently conducted at BYU, a
political science professor ascertained that approximately 70% of the comments
posted on political Facebook pages were negative. This means people weren’t
necessarily commenting to share their ideas and beliefs, they were commenting to ridicule
and distort the ideas and beliefs of others.
As a result of these actions, civil discourse, which breeds learning and
understanding, is quickly losing its power.
We know that civil discourse does breed learning and understanding. In Robert Putnam's book Bowling Alone, he reminds us that back in the 50’s and 60’s when
civil discourse was high, so was the percentage of voters and the amount of
civic involvement.
It is important to address this issue of the lack of civil
discourse presented online so that our nation can move past it and forward
with its goals, pushed forward by the new stage of social media. I’m not saying that you are going to
agree with another person just because you talk and share your ideas with one
another. However, if you do talk and
share ideas, you will be able to understand why that person thinks a certain way
or agrees with a certain policy. Only
when you understand where a person is coming from can you influence them, and
you want to influence them so they will agree with you. Based on this information,
it’s really in everyone’s best interest to promote and practice civil
discourse.
Civil discourse will help
promote action as well. Instead of
everyone discouraging each other and hitting heads against the wall, it
will foster ideas and generate enthusiasm to be a positive influence in the
political world. We can see that talking
creates an interest and desire in people, which can then transfer into action--and
action is essential to the progression of America. The practice of civil discourse, whether online or face to face, will take America back to the rudimentary politics of discussion. Discussion is essential--because only when it takes place can America be inspired to take action and move forward.
This is a nice refreshing way to look at how the media is affecting the elections today. I had never thought about how the fact that there are no longer discussions but just head-butting instead is affecting the influences to even vote. It’s absolutely true that with all of the head-butting going on we’ve kind of found ourselves in a sort of political gridlock where not much is getting done. Most people are just simply worried about what they have to say and don’t want to listen to others ideas. I like that this is pointed out in this blog post.
ReplyDeleteWhen you brought up the fact that in discussion most people are just worried about what they have to say, it reminded me of something I learned in a class last year. The problem with people worrying about what they are going to say is that they don’t listen to the person who is engaged in conversation with them. If you don’t listen to someone, how are you truly supposed to understand them? You can’t. In this class the teacher explained that have a discussion it’s important to fully understand the other person, and to let them know you fully understand them. That means that listening is the most important thing you can do. Whether you agree with them or not, it doesn’t matter. You can reach the point of fully understanding by asking question, and repeating back what they said to make sure you get it right. Once you fully understand them, it’s their turn to fully understand you. I think it’s important to implement this listening and understanding to civil discourse to make it successful.
DeleteThe lack of civil discourse in the U.S. is appalling. All over social networking sites are full out wars regarding politics. Honestly all of this bickering has driven people away from getting more involved in politics. People are getting tired of all of the hot headed people that won't listen to other viewpoints. Politics has turned more into a verbal gunfight than anything. It would be nice to see more positive advertisements and maybe a little bit of good ol' fashioned sportsmanship.
ReplyDeleteI appreciate that you mentioned the large amount of negative advertising around us. I think one of the reasons there is such a large amount of negative advertising here in Utah is because we’re such a one party state. If citizens see negative advertising for the Democratic Party and its candidate, they feel justified in voting straight ticket. On the other hand democrats in Utah want to make the Republicans know just how awful they believe the Republican Party to be. As a result the Democrats have advertisements that rip into the Republican candidate. But what is so pointless about this advertising is that they never give the full story, they take things out of context, or they get into pointless personal facts about the candidates. Unfortunately both parties are guilty of this. I hope citizens will be able to see past it so that they are able to decide for themselves who they support.
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