Go on the internet, they said. It will bring people together, they said.
It sure seems like social media has allowed Americans to disappear into their own echo chamber wormholes, self-tailored to confirm and support whatever political ideology or corporate coffee chain they align with. It’s when those angry ideologues journey into others’ echo chambers to spew hateful rhetoric that they become “trolls.”
The Central Coast Islamic Center of Santa Maria’s imam, Mohammad Mohabbot, told the Sun that members of his congregation have been the target of angry online commenters. Mohabbot didn’t provide any hard proof in the way of screenshots, but it’s not an extraordinary claim.
Take what happened Monday, March 27, when Women’s History Month was celebrated with a new addition. Under the hashtag #MuslimWomensDay, thousands of Islamic women and others posted words, images, videos, and links to articles celebrating their heritage and beliefs.
The hashtag got coopted by many on social media sites like Twitter and Facebook. They posted photos and videos of Muslim women who had suffered horrible abuse—like the survivors of acid attacks—as well as veiled women. Some posters claimed they were “educating” Muslim women about their own religion, while others blamed “white liberals” for the hashtag.
The irony of an online celebration started to welcome the voices of Muslim women who were then shouted down by angry hoards telling them how oppressed they really are is a deafening example of the backwards mob mentality on social media.
All this arguing does is distract people from issues actually affecting them and their local community.
How about the fact that Vandenberg Air Force Base’s commander, Col. Chris Moss, mentioned that the base is currently in the running for hosting a detachment of MQ-9 Reaper drones? Those aren’t the cute and cuddly drones that just record infrared video at 75,000 feet. Reapers are the killer drones that shoot Hellfire missiles and laser-guided bombs.
That’s one of those things we should pay attention to before we start arguing about it on the internet. You know, like this recent attempt by HVI Cat Canyon Inc. to halt an ongoing court case regarding local oil spills the company is responsible for.
HVI Cat Canyon Inc. is the artist formerly known as Greka Oil and Gas—basically the Jackson Pollock of Northern Santa Barbara County oil spills. The United States and the state of California are suing the company for violating the Environmental Protection Agency’s regulations, like the Clean Water Act, for spills that happened locally years ago.
But the company saw a big, greasy chance to get out of the ongoing case thanks to President Donald Trump’s Feb. 28 executive order, which reversed a water rule installed by former President Barack Obama, among other things.
Don’t ever let anyone tell you politics doesn’t matter—it affects local lives every day.
And if you’re one of those affected people, you don’t need a hashtag to get heard, just send a letter to the Sun at letters@santamariasun.com! Before people argued on the internet, they argued in newspapers, like adults!
The Canary recommends the internet in short bursts. Send your thoughts to canary@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Mar 30 – Apr 6, 2017.
