some thoughts on social media on the reverend dr. martin luther king jr.’s day

“There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it.”

— Edith Wharton

Today is the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s day, the day we reflect on this civil rights icon, who fought for the rights of African-Americans in the 50s and 60s, until his assassination in 1968. Dr. King was a beautiful, inspiring speaker, and on this day, you can’t swing a dead cat on the internet without hitting one of his quotes, which range from the importance of spreading love to some of his more strident beliefs (which, for some, can be difficult to hear — but no less truthful). He was an amazing man, no doubt. But I feel like we all know this.

So this is why I was so delighted when my friend Asha Dornfest chose to use today not to share another of his quotes, but instead, to share a really interesting thought — one that is especially relevant in today’s social media age. Take a look, below, and be sure to read each word:

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I've noticed people often share and retweet messages they want to extinguish or refute. Or voices that shock or horrify them.🔹 Often, all this does is make that negative voice louder and more powerful. 🔹 A thought experiment: Imagine your social media profile as a stage (literally, your platform). You are the only one standing on that stage, with a spotlight, microphone, and all. 🔹 You're looking out from the stage onto your audience. These are your social media followers and friends. Some of us are speaking to a classroom-sized group. Others, to a stadium-sized crowd. 🔹 These people have chosen to be in your audience because they like you, love you, trust you, or appreciate something you do. So they listen to you.🔹 Sharing or retweeting a voice on your social media profile is like inviting that voice on to your stage, stepping aside, and giving them your mic.🔹If you believe this voice is worthwhile and important, you've done both the worthwhile voice AND your audience a service. 🔹But if not -- if you believe this voice is negative or destructive -- you've just made it louder, even if you're standing offstage, pointing and saying, "isn't this voice horrible?" 🔹Even worse, your audience members may agree with you and share the destructive voice on THEIR stages, making it even LOUDER.🔹So today, every day, pause before you share. Consider if the person you're amplifying has earned the privilege of using your stage. 🔹

A post shared by Asha Dornfest (@ashadornfest) on Jan 20, 2020 at 10:02am PST

She is so. on. point. here. I know that I especially find this behaviour particularly irksome when friends share a news story or Facebook post of someone who is being blatantly bigoted, especially when immigrants or black people are the target. I understand the good place where the friends who amplify the story are coming from, but when the target of the racism looks like me, it’s particularly painful to watch that news go viral — and see the story of the bigot get shared again, and again, and again in my social media feed. And I have to think that this is true for any underrepresented group: the perpetrator of the unkindness gets more notorious with each share, and the people who are targeted by his unkindness get more and more hurt. It’s a vicious cycle.

To be clear, I’m not saying that the actions of those who are unkind should be ignored — of course, we should do whatever we can to fight unkindness, and especially institutional cruelty, in any way we can. But remember: amplification of evil is not action. Standing with the oppressed by calling out unkindness offline when it occurs in your presence — that’s action. Donating money or time to organizations that fight cruelty — that’s action. Calling your representatives and/or voting them out of office when they don’t represent your values — that’s action.

So as we continue to commit to making light together, I’d invite you to consider Asha’s words above. As she says, “consider if the person you’re amplifying has earned the privilege of using your stage.” If not, then think of some way you can fight the underlying unkindness without amplifying their voice.

But if so? Reflect that light, baby.