The Way B A C K W A R D

Social media have no conscience...

They are tools and, as such, depend upon the user for responsible, moral and ethical use. As with any other tool, they allow the user to do things that s/he could not possibly accomplish without them. Therein lies the problem.

Because we enjoy freedom of expression in our society, a user of social media may say, write or hypothesize anything. It is then incumbent upon the recipient of the message to determine its relative value. The starting or perpetuating of potentially harmful, baseless fear-mongering is tantamount to shouting

“FIRE!”

in a crowded theater, in my opinion.  The author of such should be held just as accountable in the one instance as the shouter in the other.

When used irresponsibly, social media are just as potentially dangerous as another tool...a loaded gun.

Think I'm exaggerating? Ask the grieving parent of any child whose life is lost because of online bullying.