So somebody has said something bad about you, posted something on the internet, on social media. Ban Facebook! Ban Twitter! Take down the systems, shut off the communications and stop this kind of thing from happening. Somebody has written something inappropriate, hateful, hurtful, so sue them, take them to court and make them pay. We should never have allowed it to happen.
But it was bound to happen with a global communications revolution. What people used to say or think or imagine is now written down in an instant and flashed around the world in nanoseconds, digitally recorded and disseminated. Everyone has a voice, everyone can publish, everyone can blog or tweet or poke. Most of it is trivial, mundane and irrelevant. Some is funny and creative and of interest while some is offensive, rude or obscene but then isn’t so is much of everyday life?
Should we be worried? Do we not argue that free speech is a great thing and that we do not want to live in a world where our thoughts are controlled, censored or vetted? Isn’t the democratisation of communication well worth taking the rough with the smooth? As Blackstone formulated, it is ‘better that ten guilty persons escape than that one innocent suffer’ and so should we not accept that it is better that bad things will be published and said than to restrict the freedom of human communication and interaction?
Free speech is no longer enough. It must be accompanied by the freedom to listen and the freedom to interpret. If people can exercise their freedom to say whatever is on their mind and whatever is exercising their thoughts then we need to ensure that we practice the freedom to listen. Those who choose to use social media should pick their words carefully, they should think about the effect that they will have upon those that will be affected but then those who choose to listen or to read or to view should also do so with care.
It is up to us to decide whether or not to hear or to read their utterings. Communications require a deliverer and a receiver and words only have meaning if they have resonance or traction. Unlike sticks and stones they are hurtful or offensive only if we give them an audience, only if we allow them into our lives and only if we lend them some credence.
The listener should decide whether they believe what is said is true or fair or inappropriate or not. If we don’t like it we should close our ears, avert our eyes, shut down the computer, switch off the radio and turn the other cheek. Passive resistance to something that is hurtful or not true is hard and difficult to swallow but it is a much better option than letting some unseen hand strike a red pen through the communications revolution that is social media.
Thoughts from a Guerrilla Worker 
Well said.
As a child I was told the “sticks and stones .. ” saying by my mum so I would not get hurt when people called me names or said nasty things about me. Since i’ve grown up this still holds true. I might get a bit upset when people say nasty things, but I know they’re not true and thats all that matters to me. I just think they’re entitled to their opinion, and I feel a bit sorry for them.
The strange thing about a lot of the recent cases where “celebrities” have complained about tweets etc, is that a lot of the stories are true, so what are they complaining about. We’re all bombarded with so much information and news, how many of us actually remember the last scandal.
Strangely though, one of the reasons why I started a blog is to put down in writing some of my thoughts and feelings, things that might be upsetting me but I cant put on twitter because there are too many eyes watching. Does that mean I’m thinking of others before I tweet, probably, but its more likely that I’m afraid that there might be consequeses, even if what I want to say is true. Its a lot easier to give the full story in a blog than in 140 characters.
Mankind has so many was of being cruel to others, if it came to being cruel with words and being cruel with sticks, stones or bullets I would choose the words any day because as you say the words are only cruel if I let the hurt.
Thanks, they do hurt which is why we must try to let them pass by.