When I was about 14, I started my journey of cookie baking. I was (and still am) in love with cookies, and was trying out different recipes for a cookie exchange over the holidays. I turned on the oven to preheat it as I started to get the ingredients together. It was a simple recipe so I sat down and kept watching Gossip Girl. As I was enjoying how twisted and complicated Blair and Chuck’s relationship was, I started smelling something odd. Something was burning...but I hadn’t put anything in the oven yet? I guessed it would be best to just go check it out. As I opened the oven, an all too familiar orange glow met my eyes and I panicked. I immediately launched at the faucet and started spraying. I hadn’t realized in my panic that I was spraying the floor, so when I pointed the faucet in the right direction, the force I did it with lifted me off my feet and sent me plummeting to the ground. Drenched and bruised, I noticed that my valiant fire-fighter-esque attempts were in vain. The fire had only grown bigger. I then realized this was an oil fire because my typical, islander father had left the pan he used to cook his dinner in the oven. I flailed away at the fire with all my mom’s decorative towels until it was finally gone.
Why did I share this story with you? An equally intense fire burns on social media that so many of us consume, and similar to the heat I felt when I opened up that oven door, is the heat that is generated with each word typed when clapping-back at a stupid comment someone made.
Why is it that social media comments become so heated? Well before I answer that, I ask this: why do we like commenting and/or responding on social media posts that we know will only lead to a contest on who had the last word?
One reason is that “neuroimaging studies have shown that the same reward circuitry in our brains that is activated when we receive money is activated when we receive likes on one of our social media posts.” Another reason is that posting, commenting, and sharing nowadays doubles as activism. So while we may not have been able to make it out to the protests that took place over the summer, the internet could feel our outrage and solidarity with the many infographics we shared and posts like #blackouttuesday.
To answer why social media comments have become so heated, we have to acknowledge that we as human beings like being right, we like having a voice, and we don’t only want our voice to be heard, we want it to mean something. Contrary to the actions we often see displayed on social media, having the loudest voice or the last word doesn’t make you correct.
We pride ourselves when we stand up for the oppressed and call out those who we deem as prejudiced and heartless–and in the same breath, we participate in another form of torment towards those people. We don’t take issue when those who are on our side are quick to be nasty and hateful right back in the comments. We allow this to happen because we view anger and outrage differently. Anger is negative, childish, and Hulk-like, but outrage? It’s justified as an appropriate response to crime that has been committed: it’s sophisticated. Unlike anger, “outrage is lavishly rewarded on social media, whether through supportive comments, retweets or Facebook likes.”
We like the idea of putting out fires and standing up for what we think is right, but we’re not actually getting anything done. Have you ever had success putting out an oil fire with water? If you have, you likely have also won a heated debate on Facebook or Twitter. Next time, rather than engaging in fruitless dialogue, you, myself, and everyone else that has been guilty of having hot fingers should take a moment. Breathe. Remember that you, commenting, will likely change nothing and instead, find a friend who will listen and have a meaningful conversation with you.
By the way, after the smoke subsided, I was able to put the cookies to bake and they were good.
The Student Movement is the official student newspaper of Andrews University. Opinions expressed in the Student Movement are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors, Andrews University or the Seventh-day Adventist church.