- People labelling their Tweets “Breaking” before highlighting a story they believe is more important than others.
- People you generally respect getting so annoyed that a news organisation doesn’t reflect their personal choices, that the news organisation is suddenly worthless.
- Left-leaning British commentators weighing in pointlessly against right-leaning US gun advocates on Twitter. It’s not that I disagree with those commentators about gun control. Obviously I completely agree. But we’re talking about a people that did precisely nothing when 20 six and seven year olds were shot, and then did precisely nothing else when another 58 people were murdered and another 851 were injured at a music festival. And that’s aside from the thousands more who die needlessly on an ongoing basis. But outrage on Twitter can feel like King Canute trying to turn back the tide. A different approach is needed. Sadly, I don’t know what that approach is.
- That politicians fear their own parties so much, they can’t actually say what they genuinely believe.
Mostly I’m annoyed at the entrenchment in all kinds of political discourse everywhere. From factions within the Tory party over Brexit, to the ability of Northern Ireland to form a government, and yes, for the ability of US politicians to reign in gun violence in any way whatsoever.
I don’t think it’s completely the fault of social media, or the internet in general, but political discourse and the idea that there might be some middle ground between two entrenched viewpoints seems to have diminished. And that’s bad for society.