Re:Steady Decline in Major Crime Baffles Experts
by dkarl on Tuesday May 24, 2011 @12:10PM
(#2580412)
Now for a really big leap-of-faith: maybe social media opens our eyes to how other people perceive their lives. As stated in Paul B's "open as in water" blog post, Facebook and Twitter have shown more people that they aren't alone in their miseries; and that there are lots of little joys in life!
Blogging and forums might have the effect you describe. Certainly every violent criminal takes a look at the peaceful life open to him and decides that it isn't tolerable. Whether it's a twenty year old with half a high school education working shifts at Chik-fil-A thinking, "It's shameful for a grown man to be doing this work. I can't afford a car; my apartment is a piece of shit. If I stick with this, I'm a loser and a failure. I've gotta do something" or Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold deciding that accepting their role as loser outcasts was just too painful, the decision is to reject your lot in society and go outside the rules, with little hope of actually improving your life, just the prospect of enjoying some dignity and satisfaction. Finding some anonymous fellowship online would, I think, take the edge off the shame and indignity of being at the bottom of the pack.
Facebook and Twitter, on the other hand, are the opposite because they're all about cultivating public identities. The people who post regularly on Facebook and Twitter are the ones who are happiest with themselves and most secure broadcasting themselves to intimate friends and non-acquaintances alike. Unhappy and insecure people are invisible, because if they're downers, they'll be defriended. That increases the impression of inequality -- everyone else is happier than me; I just don't measure up -- and should lead to more violence, if anything.
Blogging and forums might have the effect you describe. Certainly every violent criminal takes a look at the peaceful life open to him and decides that it isn't tolerable. Whether it's a twenty year old with half a high school education working shifts at Chik-fil-A thinking, "It's shameful for a grown man to be doing this work. I can't afford a car; my apartment is a piece of shit. If I stick with this, I'm a loser and a failure. I've gotta do something" or Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold deciding that accepting their role as loser outcasts was just too painful, the decision is to reject your lot in society and go outside the rules, with little hope of actually improving your life, just the prospect of enjoying some dignity and satisfaction. Finding some anonymous fellowship online would, I think, take the edge off the shame and indignity of being at the bottom of the pack.
Facebook and Twitter, on the other hand, are the opposite because they're all about cultivating public identities. The people who post regularly on Facebook and Twitter are the ones who are happiest with themselves and most secure broadcasting themselves to intimate friends and non-acquaintances alike. Unhappy and insecure people are invisible, because if they're downers, they'll be defriended. That increases the impression of inequality -- everyone else is happier than me; I just don't measure up -- and should lead to more violence, if anything.