We should examine those who create the means of communication through their shortsighted visions, motivated by delusions of grandeur and monetary reward before thinking-through the ramifications on their potential consumers and society as a whole.

If those who created the social media platforms used widely from the early 2000’s through today had given just a little thought on how their websites would impact our methods of talking to each other, things today could’ve been a whole lot different. When the technology of cloning was being discussed, scientists and ethicists debated for years, not whether it could be done but should it.

For example, immature, forward thinking-challenged Harvard students created what we now call Facebook (Facemash.com) as a means of ranking the physical attributes of campus women. Odds are the males doing the ranking did so under the protection of cowardly anonymity.

From MySpace through YouTube through Facebook through Twitter, if users were required to provide their verified real name, verified age, most recent portrait and city location to initially “sign up”, just imagine how conversations would be conducted today as the abused shield of anonymity would not be a factor.

Because their identity would be a public and could be scrutinized by family members, friends, employers, and law enforcement if necessary, a mob of the anonymous would not exist to pressure anyone to say or take back anything they didn’t want to do. In far too many instances today, a person who says something on Facebook or Twitter is inundated with tens of thousands of virulent responses from “people” who may or may not have piled on if their friends and family (who may not agree with their take) could see not only their message but how they chose to respond.

Would most parents object to a son or daughter telling someone they didn’t know to go kill themself? Probably.

Would an employer have a problem with an employee posting an obscenity to a local politician who could directly and adversely affect their business? Probably.

But when someone can say some of the most vile things to another person that they’d never have the guts to say to their face, it emboldens the coward, emboldens the mob mentality, and the negative results are documented.

When people using aliases can now do criminal activities to others and/or their property and can broadcast it all live purely for the sake of hundreds of thousands of “likes”, it dehumanizes those they victimize and inspires the copycats as well as those who wish to take things further.

Unfortunately, the toothpaste is out of the tube. The arrogant bully can create any name not his or her, any graphic representation not of their true likeness, and can jump right in and ramp up any issue they want at any person they wish and make that person act and think the way they want them to. Should that person succumb to the demands of the empowered anonymous, the cowards are again emboldened to look for the next they wish to victimize. If it results in apologies, that becomes the next “trending” success narrative. If it results in a suicide, retrospection and apologizes are optional. If it results in violence, those who cheered events on can now pivot and pile on to whichever side convenient to their narcissism.

We will not have a return to a semblance of civility in society until social media realizes their platforms are THE major contributing factor and a total reboot is past due.

Until the cowardly anonymous are disarmed and thus held responsible for what they post on all platforms, we will see people’s careers destroyed, businesses impacted, and violent responses on the uptick. Those who hide behind false names will continue to tell us all how THEY want us to think and express ourselves or else or face a merciless horde.

Just a couple short generations ago, we didn’t experience the incivility seen today because we were social media. We didn’t have the luxury of being able to tell everyone we knew, and hundreds more we’ve never met face-to-face, something negative about someone we knew or never met. Speech required introspection. We had to know if it was something we really wanted to say to someone’s face and if we really wanted it known that it was said.

In other words, we were held responsible for what we said and it actually forced us to think if it was something that should be said at all.

Today, throw all that out the window. Comments are now impulsive, at times not well thought out if at all, and can be issued by people who can’t be personally identified and held accountable. Showing their real cowardice, they can delete their posted attacks after the damage is done, free to move on to their next subjects.

Social media has empowered the gutless and when the weak can destroy the strong, we have a really fucked up mess to fix.

While there are now thousands of examples of the naivete of his statement, granted in 1981 Jobs’ main goal was to sell Apple products, here is one of the latest examples of Internet tools being misused (and excused) by a child and with deadly results.

18-year-old Obdulia Sanchez was shooting live video with her cell phone while driving near Merced, California. She was rolling when the car went off the road and flipped, killing her teenage sister. She kept shooting video after her sister died. Sanchez faces charges of DUI and vehicular manslaughter.

Meanwhile, a closed Facebook group called “Free Obdulia Sanchez!” popped up with more than 6,000 members. It had previously been a group to discuss LGBT issues, and the name changed after the crash and live video came to light.
— Sacramento Bee, 7/25/17

There are other instances of narcissism-driven livestreams by young people run amok, justified by racebaiters simply because the perpetrators were black and the hate was directed at then-President-elect Donald Trump.

Adults even livestream at times and places considered quite inappropriate because it’s all about them.

What we have is a convergence of bad parenting (and other adults) where children, regardless of their level of responsibility, are getting whatever they want and being allowed to do whatever they want with it, no matter how reckless they behave and are selectively excused.

Obdulia Sanchez is a child who made an error in judgement. She is being made a scapegoat for an incident that took the life of her 14-year-old sister, but it is not Obdulia’s fault. She should not be held responsible for this terrible tragedy, which says more about our society and what is deemed acceptable. We need to look at society and see where we went wrong, and how we can prevent this from happening in the future, but there is NO REASON why Obdulia should bear the brunt of the consequences.
— “Free Obdulia Sanchez!” Facebook page

We have a culture that rewards narcissism and an industry that feeds into the notion that everyone wants to see YOU, what YOU are doing while YOU are doing it and that industry has deliberately targeted young people who don’t buy the smartphones and pay for the service.

A 14-year-old survivor of a deadly car crash in California that was livestreamed on Instagram said she isn’t mad at anyone and doesn’t blame the driver. Instead, Manuela Seja blamed social media, which she said has taken over people’s lives and is only going to become more prevalent, television station KSEE in Fresno reported Monday.
— Associated Press, 4/26/17

Their parents do; parents who succumb to the pressure and whining inflicted by spoiled children who won’t relent until they get what they want and then act all shocked when their children commit unspeakable acts, blame everyone else but themselves and whine about what’s going to happen to them, heaven forbid.

Obdulia Sanchez was sentenced Thursday to six years and four months in prison for gross vehicular manslaughter, DUI and child endangerment stemming from a July 2017 crash in which her 14-year-old sister died. Sanchez, 18, of Stockton, had captured the crash – and the moments before and after – on live Instagram video that went viral worldwide.

Sanchez was detained at the scene after she was belligerent due to the death of her sister, reportedly kicking and spitting at medics and police as they responded. She was arrested after a blood test at Los Banos Memorial Hospital revealed her blood alcohol content was registered at 0.106 about 90 minutes after the crash.
— Merced Sun-Star, 2/8/18

Remember the Free Obdulia Sanchez! Facebook page that said the she was being made a scapegoat and the accident wasn’t her fault but we now know she was driving alcohol impaired and underage. Yeah, not her fault….

The genie is out of the bottle and the general public are at the mercy of the narcissistic youth who do stupid shit while livestreaming their antics to their online friends. It’s just a matter of who is blessed enough to avoid contact with them.