Share Worthy

By Mitchell Moyer

Ever have a moment of clarity amongst the chaos? The type of epiphany that only shows up through the fog of strife and conflict? Well this isn't really that. In fact, I only had this thought after mindless scrolling through my news feed for a few minutes. I can think back not all that long ago to seeing parents post pictures on their social media of their kids and their pets or your favorite aunt posting memes of the Minions with a joke about Mondays and being upset by it. 'This shouldn't be a place for your monotonous life events but for important things!' I can recall thinking to myself. (You know, things like blurry pictures from a concert I went to the night before). It's funny looking back how I viewed by social media. It's how I connected with people, or at least that's what I thought. As years have passed and I've taken part in my fair share of debates and opinion sharing in someone's status or sharing of an article, I've come to see the triviality of it all. We become so entrenched in our own opinions and ready for battle over someone else's that we might not even know, much less understand. We are so fast to launch out our beliefs and the reasons we ought to have them that we don't even check sources on the article we're debating (I'm man enough to admit that I've read a headline and formed my conclusion without even bothering to click the link of real article!). I feel the need to ask, at the risk of public internet outcry, if all the opinion sharing really advances us as a society. Absolutely there are issues that are worthy of being brought to the attention of our individual social media followers. And I'm certainly not saying anyone shouldn't post what you want; that's what 'unfollow' is for! But if all we accomplish by "sharing" our opinion is putting ourselves and a few others on an island, is it worth posting? So go ahead, post those goofy memes and pictures of your dog looking adorable. Share the recipe for the worlds best brownies and the music video of the band you just discovered. That's the stuff I want to see, the things that bring us together, the things that make us laugh and the things that, if only for a moment, can be a light amongst the darkness and uncertainty.