Before the invention of the Internet in
1950s, the word 'viral' would only cause paranoia and sweaty palms, not
excitement and an urgent need to search for some bizarre music videos or
articles about a gorilla being taken down. It has been well established that
viral contents like the PPAP song or Harambe's
death have several common
characteristics: evoking extreme emotions, easy to comprehend, and relatable to
the mass. Sharing viral contents is not so much about spreading breaking news
and information, it instead enables and empowers the sharers to express an opinion
or feeling that effectively paints themselves in the intended light. Calling it
a self-gratifying act is not accurate, because most sharers do not actually
care what others think of them, but that attitude defines their identities and
makes them "unique" and "interesting". It can be a
conscious or unconscious effort, but undoubtedly sharing viral materials is an
activity most if not all that have access to Internet and social media profiles
engage in on a daily basis, and we shall attempt to find out why.
In today's
context, if a tree falls in the forest and no one is around, it certainly does
not make a sound. It does not even fall, nor is it really a tree, on top of
that the forest does not even exist in the first place. At any point of time,
from any individual's point of view, something only exists or starts to exist
if they know about it. However, after Italian astrologer Giordano Bruno was burned
for spreading information contradicting
to the Roman Catholic Church's
belief, being told is no longer enough and people start to demand proofs to
believe. Theories backed by experiments, photo and video evidences, i.e
science, become more widely adopted and developed. Now, while viral contents
are not necessarily scientific knowledge, they do have to be credible and
objective to attract more shares and likes. There are viral materials being
circulated with the purpose of humiliating certain groups and ideologies, but
those are blatantly biased and sometimes ridiculous one can quickly realise
their sarcastic feature. People only share contents that they want to be seen
sharing anyway.
'Welcome to the
Internet' can often be used to resolve, or make light of conflicts online,
where everyone and anyone is free to say whatever they want. Most people,
however, do not take into account others' opinions while formulating their own
and end up sounding ignorant and ill-informed. The responses to Harambe's
killing prompted me to start this blog on providing objective perspective on
social issues, and I will discuss that in explaining the viral generation's
mindset.
(this is not
Harambe but another lowland western gorilla, for illustration purpose)
To recap, the
famous 17-year-old gorilla at the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden was shot
and killed by a zoo worker, after a 3-year-old boy got inside Harambe's
enclosed captive area and was grabbed and dragged around by the 200 kg primate.
Immediately the controversy began and the Internet was divided into two halves,
one defending the zoo's choice of action and the other criticising the shooting
as imprudent. Of course no single answer is perfect, but with a bit of logic
and common sense you should be able to see that the boy's safety was of highest
priority and the zoo's decision was appropriate. Yet, that very action was and
is still being ridiculed by memes and people who nonchalantly distribute those
memes online.
This movement may
have started with genuine grief (but highly unlikely) over Harambe's death, but
it has reached the point when every mention of the word Harambe serves to
entertain, draw attention and prove one's capability of making satirical
remarks. Cincinnati Zoo has been pleading the public to stop the proliferation of such harmful memes, but a quick glimpse at
the comments and you can safely tell this ignorant and damaging act will
continue for long. Had the incident not been reported, none of this proud
"Harambe supporters" would have displayed so much concern towards
animals. Since they questioned the shooting which ultimately prevented any
potential harm done to a human baby, a fellow member of their species, you
could already tell if the concern was real or not. The viral environment is the
natural habitat for hypocrites, after all it is not too difficult to shed
virtual tears for an animal you would never meet.
Members of the
viral generation are created by the systematic problem with today's standards
of 'just for fun'. You might have already heard the saying that people are
getting more sensitive nowadays and they can get offended by anything, but that
has got to do with how comments are made and opinions are expressed with little
or no regards to others' feeling or ideologies. Words are free, but it doesn't
mean they must and should be cheap. Do think before you share your opinion on
any matter, be ready to back it up with logical arguments supported by
evidences, and consider others' perspectives with respect. The online community
is not yet beyond hope, and we can stop the viral culture infecting our
statements with insensitive and uneducated remarks before it becomes a real
disease.
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