Do kids really need to tweet that they just got on the bus?

Really now…Do kids really need to tweet that they just got on the bus?

“No dad. They don’t need to. Usually they won’t even do so. Most of them will write about a lot of things, their new hobby, what they think of the show they just saw, how they feel right now.”

“Why would anyone care to know that? “

“They don’t. Only the people who follow them do. And they follow them because they like to read these things. So only the people who care read it. You and me may not care about  someone’s new model plane but the people from his club might and they may find it really interesting how he made that specific rotor he fiddled with for months work.”

“Oh I guess that makes sense. Guess that Twitter thing isn’t that stupid. But people post a lot of stupid stuff there don’t they?”

“Sure they do. Most people say a lot of stupid stuff too. That’s the people, not the technology.”

“True enough.”

And thus ended my Dad’s long held belief that social media is complete insanity brought on by a generation that will never do anything noteworthy in their whole life. What did it take to change a rather stubborn mind influenced by years and years of TV? A calm voice, patience and a willingness, to understand why another person thinks something so obviously wrong. This means taking setbacks, it means repeating the point I wanted to make a few times after some new stupid story from someone in the family reaffirmed the former belief. Sometimes it also meant taking a hit, sitting back and watching ignorance in silence. There is a right and a wrong time to try to correct someone. The right time is rarely while someone is ranting or just wants to vent and it is almost never in front of others.

In all the political and social debates these days it is easy to feel cornered by the sheer amount of bile and lies spread by zealots and people with an agenda to misinform, be it political parties, the power of nostalgia or a media that has turned fear into a product.  In this position it can seem like the only weapon you have left is to speak the truth, to rise up to the debate, to win the argument to convince the other side they’re wrong. But it’s not.

Arguments are the preferred way of combat of those who wish to spread false facts because once voices are raised and emotions are high facts suddenly stop to matter. As an advocate of reason you have another way and while it only reaches a very few people it is devastatingly effective. It is the power wielded in quiet conversations with your friends and parents. It is used in living rooms or over coffee. And it is used with people who trust you to not try to sell them anything. It is the power to explain, to take time to share knowledge and present it in a way accessible to the worldview of the person you’re  talking to.  If you find a person even remotely accessible to reason nothing will leave a more lasting impression than sharing knowledge and understanding. Sometimes the mire of misinformation is so thick you have to wait for the right chance. The subject to come up that will help the other person to see things from a different perspective.

The most useful tool you can have in explaining something is interest. If someone actually cares to listen you have a much better chance to succeed. Maybe your mother just doesn’t care about blogs and that’s fine. Give it time,  your chance will come the moment she mentions feeling sorry about a suicide case from an outsider at a school. You can explain the “It gets better campaign”.  Little things like that won’t turn anyone to believe in what you do. That isn’t even the point. But every little bit helps to keep ignorance and misinformation at bay. We fear the unknown, be it people or technology. Yet once you explained the unknown it no longer seems like a monster. Even the best fear mongering will have a hard time making it seem like a danger again.

It is baby steps but in my experience even little things like explaining how the menu on a TV is structured can make it seem less like a magical box and just a common tool to be used. I may overestimate the effect to make my daily life of writing user manuals a little more meaningful but I like to think it is the other way around. Thinking about how to best give others the tools to understand made me realize just how important the power to explain is.

Follow MadMike’sAmerica on Facebook and Twitter, and don’t forget to visit our HOME PAGE.

Happy

0 0 %

Sad

0 0 %

Excited

0 0 %

Sleepy

0 0 %

Angry

0 0 %

Surprise

0 0 %