That morning in the cool air of Salatiga on Sept. 11, 2001, while enjoying hot tea and boiled cassava, suddenly from the middle room my father shouted about how barbaric the group that attacked and blew up the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York, US, was.
At that time I was helping in the production of an action film full of violent scenes and special effects. Therefore, when there was such news, I thought it was part of an action or science fiction movie promo. After a little debate with my father, I finally realized that the attack scenes were real news from the world media.
From the news and various opinions that emerged later, both in official discussions and in coffee shops, it could be concluded that the incident was most unreasonable and barbaric. It made no sense. How can a group of people act in such a way?
After that, bombings and violent acts that cause mass casualties have frequently happened. The news spreads through various media and finally can be accessed through the gadgets in our own hands.
Prolonged habits
Social media enters the personal areas of Indonesian society along with cheaper technology in the form of gadgets and computers. With various types of social media (Facebook, Twitter andothers), the community can more easily access various information and criticize it.
The users of the above media are those who know technology as a hardware that facilitates communication and entertainment. Nearly all daily needs can be met with devices.
The Indonesian people have made gadgets their second holy book. On various occasions, they always try to update information and issues on social media through their gadgets. Their dependence on social media cannot be separated from the desire to identify themselves and socialize. Psychologists Henri Tajfel and John Turner called it “social identity theory”. The point, according to William Gudykunst and Bella Mody in their 2002 book, Handbook of International and Intercultural Communication, isthat the individual has a concept of himself while socializing.
Change of existence
Gadgets and social media are no longer just an extension of digital technology, but are an important part of a change of existence and the self-identification of a particular group. On many occasions – regardless of the economic and educational strata – we see the members of various layers of society who spend their time typing on the small screens in their hands. Various bits of information, gossip, hoaxes and hate speeches appear from those fingers.
In social media, various bits of information are available almost limitlessly. The character of social media, which is completely open, makes anyone able to provide information, regardless of whether it is true or not. Anyone can also give praiseor reproaches without hesitation because it is not face-to-face.
Various bits of information are uploaded by parties that want a change of attitude in a group. This is the effect of an almost unstoppable and unverified information spill. The digital era that gave birth to freedom in social media is not balanced by an awareness of the functions of information and critical attitudes. Subjective news stories that contain lies, threats and hatred are easily disseminated and believed to be true.
Technology in social media also raises the tendency to manipulate facts and suppress objective truth. The result is various comments or descriptionsthat reverse the facts, or add to or subtract from them for the purpose of agitation. This is the impact of the era of social media.
The manipulation of the truth brings about two groups, namely the groups of haters and lovers. The two are equally fanatical and they both consider themselves correct. The battle over conflicting claims about truth can be found every day in social media. From any side, there are groups of haters and lovers.
The horrible thing that comes from such a dispute is the effect of ignorance caused by the lack of understanding of the meaning of information. Not all communities understand and interpret the information. Criticizing and understanding information is important before commenting.
It is hard to search for a midpoint in the conflict between haters and lovers and it is most difficult to tell whether members of either group get adequate education. It means the two groups are indistinguishable in their strata of education and economy. Blasphemy and insults will be uttered if they are already scrambling for discourse.
Common sense and conscience
Only common sense and conscience can provide clarity of thought. It needs government control over the various actions that make social media an arena of an endless war of discourse. On the other hand, each individual social media user should also be able to control him- or herself and at the same time understand what information is correct and what is not.
That understanding makes every social media user a source of information, not a tool to spread hatred. Society must be literate in social media, which has become a new scripture for users of the gadgets.
Literacy in digital media becomes a must, before finally each social media user becomes an agitator. For example, because of carelessness while using Facebook, 10 students lost the opportunity to study at Harvard University
(Time, June 6, 2017). Martin Luther King Jr.said that hatred paralyzes love, but in contrast love lets hatred go. Hatred is confusing, love harmonizing. When hatred darkens life, love illuminates it.
GUNAWAN RAHARJA
Film Worker