“Twitter is for idiots. Instagram is Twitter for people who can’t read.” -2 Broke Girls

(I thought this was hilarious when I heard it. For the record, I have an Instagram account.)

 

Instead of discussing the articles, I just want to go back to the discussion we had in class about Twitter. It’s vaguely related to Baron’s article in that literacy technology is changing and social media like Twitter and Instagram are part of it. Last Monday, someone made the comment that people are using it “wrong”.

I’m about to be a contrary asshole on purpose. I think the HUGE amount of hashtags used can be both obnoxious, tedious, and ineffectual. That being said, it’s really part of a bigger issue surrounding American politics, self-expression, and our inalienable right to freedom of expression.

I think it’s a dangerous path to go down when we start saying that someone is using a media platform the “wrong way”. It doesn’t mean I necessarily want to hear/read it all, but looking at Baron’s discussion on the history of the pencil, it’s clear that the intended use of something and it’s actual use aren’t always the same. Who are we to say no?

There’s the proverb, “the pen is mightier than the sword.” Well, in this day and age, “the 160 characters are mightier than the newspaper on your doorstep.” I understand that a hashtag like #bringbackourgirls is powerful and we are loathe to put it in the same category as #pumpkinspice. But I also understand that not every book is worth reading and some published articles are horseshit. We need to accept that this is the world we live in.

I think a lot of people are freaking out, either promoting or condemning Twitter and/or Instagram. Some people are addicted. Some utilize it for business gain/personal growth/misplaced self-esteem. Other people scoff at the idea of President Obama having a Twitter account or Pope Francis using Instagram. They see it as cheap and undignified. I think it’s important to acknowledge that technology has the ability to both launch us forward and hold us back. It’s our choice as to how we use it. It’s stupid to condone something for the bad it can do without at least admitting its potential for good as well. Nuclear energy happened. Genetic engineering happened. Twitter happened. More things will follow.

So go ahead and change the world… or change your outfit. #OOTD. It’s your perogative. Just know that with great power comes great responsibility.