Online abuse, harassment and hate towards women has soared in the days since the U.S. election. Dreamtime/TNS
With the dawn of social media, communication has become more instantaneous than ever. In little more than a second, a message, no matter how long or short, can be transmitted virtually anywhere in the world.
With this new speedy ability to communicate with others, there is now a newfound sense of hastiness when it comes to our interactions with others. As a society, we are growing accustomed to having an answer for everything instantaneously, rather than having to wait for one.
This has proven to be immensely problematic in online spaces where people engage in debating controversial topics. When someone across the world can retort at a statement you make online in an instant, it can make one feel as though they must respond immediately to appear as though they are the more intelligent person, and therefore the
“right one” in the argument. This is an idea I call “gotcha rhetoric,” a term one of my professors coined when helping me develop this same idea for a paper.
This causes debates to quickly turn heated and disrespectful, since so many when arguing online tend to spit words at each other faster than they can think about what they are actually saying.
It often takes a while to come up with a well-rounded opinion, and when we see what we view as an attack on our belief system, it can be much easier to resort to things like name calling and making the debate personal rather than remaining on the topic at hand and learning from the opposing side.
While I see this trend on all social media platforms, there are three overarching sites where it seems to run rampant: TikTok, Reddit, and X (formerly Twitter).
The phrase “Stan Twitter” has become synonymous with young people, typically within Gen Z, on X who run accounts dedicated to an artist they happen to have much admiration for. This area of the app has proven to be a massive breeding ground for this sort of behavior, with overzealous fanatics defending their favorites ‘til the nasty, bitter end.
An interesting part of the “Stan Twitter” subculture is the fact that most of the animosity that exists within it stems from topics that cannot produce intelligent arguments, like one’s own personal music taste.
Sure, it may be fun to engage in lighthearted banter with people who disagree with your choice of music, but when we’re at the point where people are body shaming strangers on the Internet or telling people to harm themselves over whether or not one likes another’s favorite singer, a line has been crossed by miles.
Reddit, too, has acquired its own less-than-optimal reputation as a site laden with “male incels,” who are often bigoted in a variety of respects, resulting in these types of hostile interactions online.
TikTok has become a cesspool of misinformation and acrimony in countless ways, which also leaves more than enough room for these rash arguments to unfold.
It is rare that I come across a social media post, especially from news sources, celebrities, or honestly any account with a lot of engagement that isn’t filled to the brim with arguments that are not only usually over trivial matters, but usually rapidly resort to name calling, attacking qualities one cannot control, or spitting poorly backed up “facts” at one another. We are more focused on being perceived as being correct rather than actually taking time to consider a perspective opposing our own.
Many of the topics (harshly) discussed in these spaces are often regarding subjects the people engaging in them have no personal experience with or knowledge of. One specific example I have seen on X, Reddit, and TikTok is the Ariana Grande-Ethan Slater scandal in July of 2023.
People immediately jumped down Grande’s throat, calling her a “homewrecker” and a “narcissist,” insisting she was solely or almost solely responsible for the end of Slater and his now ex-wife Lilly Jay’s marriage, despite a complete lack of evidence of any infidelity in either party.
While it is still unclear whether or not Grande and Slater were for sure together before he split with Jay, many still maintain with unending conviction that Grande convinced Slater to cheat on his long-time wife without even remotely knowing anyone involved.
My question to people who haven’t even questioned the validity of Jay’s claim that Grande homewrecked her marriage is simply this: what if it isn’t true? How would you feel about yourself and the words you used against someone who was completely innocent the entire time?
Our words have weight, and we must carefully consider the words that come out of our mouths before they do. If we don’t, detrimental consequences ensue.