By Stephen Vance, Editor
Is anyone else getting tired of this federal election yet? In spite of the ‘extended mix’ Prime Minister Harper dropped on us this time around, I haven’t yet tired of the debates, nor have I found myself exhausted from the media coverage as I had suspected might happen. What I am tired of has surprised even me: social media and Harper-bashing.
Yes, you read that right – the left wing pinko is sick to death of Harper-bashing, and nearly all of that bashing comes via social media.
Now don’t get me wrong, I’m no fan of Prime Minister Harper. I didn’t like the man or his politics when he first arrived on the political scene. I didn’t like him or his politics when he showed contempt for Parliament. I didn’t like him or his politics when he fell all over himself to send our military to support the U.S. in Iraq and Syria. I didn’t like him or his politics when he started trying to manipulate our courts. I didn’t like him or his politics when he brought in mandatory minimum sentences. I didn’t like him or his politics before I read Michael Harris’s Party of One, and I didn’t like him after.
It is fair to point out where you might disagree with our Prime Minister and his party, and it’s fair to analyze; it’s also fair to be critical, but social media takes candidate-bashing to new heights, and I don’t think it is good for our democratic society.
I don’t think it is fair to the prime minister, I don’t think it’s fair for the truth, and I think it can make us less informed as opposed to more.
Not that I would suggest that it stop – I’m all for free speech, and I support people’s right to express themselves, but the way people express themselves in this era of Facebook and Twitter disappoints me. That said, it’s up to me to avoid it – but that’s easier said than done.
My social media ‘news’ feeds have been crammed with images of the prime minister overlaid with words and numbers that are sometimes facts, but are often not. Some have been funny, some have been pathetic in their inaccuracy, while others have been just plain immature.
One of the problems with social media is that it never stops. It is relentless in its delivery of post after post of what is often nothing but drivel. Even when you try to avoid it, if you just let it back into your sphere for even a brief moment, you can get sucked down a rabbit hole and get lost in stupidity for more time than you’d like.
I think what bothers me the most is that the social media society churns out a lot of negativity when it comes to elections, and it almost feels as if it becomes a competition to discover who can spew the most vitriol, or who can pump out the most funny photos with dubious ‘facts’ included.
All of this negativity and inaccurate information is certainly ruining what, for me, was supposed to be an exciting federal election. An election when we might have a change in government, and start a new course for our country, and instead, I am simply sick and tired of it.
Perhaps I’m just an old crank that needs to zip my lips and get with the times, and accept that this is how we now express ourselves. We don’t bother to fact check, and are instead content to simply amuse ourselves at the expense of others.
Then again, all of this social media activity has got me to thinking about how social media and Stephen Harper and his Conservatives are somewhat similar.
You can’t trust either, they never seem to stop feeding you misinformation, neither care what you think or feel, and you can’t seem to make them go away. (Sorry, I couldn’t help myself.
Hurry up October 19.
