[Cranky Codger]

Social Media: The Decline of Civil Discourse and the Rise of Keyboard Warriors​

In the old days, when the world was less connected, a spirited debate required one to actually stand in the same room as their opponent, armed with nothing but their wits and perhaps a well-thumbed thesaurus.

The stakes were high; you had to maintain a modicum of decorum, lest you receive a glove slap across the cheek and a duel at dawn. That's on top of the timeless humiliation of defeat.

Ah, good old civil discourse.

Fast forward to the present, and the landscape of debate has been irrevocably altered by the advent of social media–a realm where the glove has been replaced by the anonymous, often emboldened, and perpetually enraged keyboard warrior.

These digital gladiators of the 21st century sit behind the safety of their screens, hurling insults with the reckless abandon of a toddler flinging food against the wall to see what sticks.

Social media, the modern Pandora's Box, unleashing faceless keyboard warriors.

The art of conversation, once a delicate dance of give and take, has devolved into a cacophony of caps-lock shouting matches where points are scored not by the strength of one's argument, but by the volume of one's virtual voice and the magnitude of the verbal spectacle they can pull off.

The 'like' and 'share' buttons have become the weapons of choice, wielded with the finesse of a sledgehammer smashing a walnut.

It's a curious phenomenon, this social media. It promised to bring us closer together, to create a global village. Instead, it often turns into a battleground where civility is the first casualty.

The anonymity afforded by the internet has emboldened even the meekest of individuals to transform into the most belligerent of brawlers, safe in the knowledge that they can espouse the most outrageous opinions without fear of a real-world reprisal.

The keyboard warriors of our time don't march into battle; they simply roll out of bed and commence their daily assault on reason and good taste.

They are the self-appointed guardians of their own echo chambers, where opposing views are not just unwelcome, they are treated as heresy.

And what of the consequences? Relationships strained, friendships ended, and a general coarsening of public discourse. It's as if the entire world has been invited to a dinner party, only to find that the main course is a generous serving of ad hominem attacks along with a side of conspiracy theories and topped with faulty logic.

In this brave new world, the truth has become a malleable commodity, something to be bent and twisted to fit the narrative of the day.

Facts are treated with the same disdain as a cold cup of tea–acknowledged, but quickly discarded in favour of something more palatable, more inflammatory.

So, where does this leave us, the weary observers of this digital colosseum? Perhaps it's time to take a step back, log off, and remember that behind every profile picture is a living, breathing human being.

Maybe, just maybe, we can rediscover the lost art of agreeing to disagree, without resorting to the online equivalent of fisticuffs.

Until that day comes, I'll be here, watching from the sidelines, a cranky codger yearning for a time when discourse was more than just a series of angry social media posts and viral 'hot takes', as today's youth so love to say.

And to the keyboard warriors, I say: put down your digital arms and step into the sunlight. The world is not as hostile as your newsfeed would have you believe.

Until next time, stay cranky, my friends.

 

[Knell]

Quiet keyboards lol