Enough is Enough.
In the words of Laura Whitmore, we've had enough. Since the devastating news of Caroline Flack, I've had a lot on my mind. I feel like things need to change with social media and the press. Freedom of speech is great, its amazing in fact that we have the power to say what we want, but there’s a thin line between saying what’s right and affecting people’s feelings. We are all human beings at the end of the day and our words can have serious consequences.
Most of us follow celebrities or influencers in the media whether that’s on Instagram, Daily Mail or any other media platform and some of us may aspire to be like these individuals. Online they appear to have the perfect life with perfect people especially on social media but that is only a snapshot of their life! We don’t really know what goes on behind closed doors. Naturally, as an individual in the public eye they have a reputation to maintain so they may choose to keep negativity or their failures private. In this sense, everyone has their own journey in life, and we don’t see everything online. As soon as someone does something to disrupt this image of perfection people are quick to judge.
I feel like the media dehumanises us because as soon as we are put in front of a smartphone we feel as though we can say whatever we want because we can. People just become another headline or another meme. It’s not even just about the treatment of media influencers look at how much racism has sparked since the reports on the coronavirus. The media affects normal people too. There is more focus on speculation like the lifestyle choices of Chinese nationals rather than how these individuals affected are suffering. Up to now the media has shown a lack of compassion towards these individuals and it’s disgusting. A lot of fear has been inflicted by the media when what we should be discussing is how we can avoid the illness and how others have been cured.
This just shows how toxic the media has become and how society has normalised bullying but it’s time for this to change. Sadly, as a society instead of going forward we just seem to keep taking a step backwards. We need to think before we speak about others and access ourselves first. That person your talking about is someone’s brother, sister, mother or father. Kindness doesn’t cost a thing, spread that sh*t.
Please have a read through some of these petitions against the media and show your support:
http://chng.it/8KhzThxVXn
http://chng.it/M6gLmyBwtN
http://chng.it/cWZgZY9gYs
