Some Medium Readers Called Me An “Idiot” For Sharing This!

It’s got me thinking — Is it ok to live in a world where we only hear views and opinions we agree with?

If you follow me here, you know I don’t write “exclusively” within a specific niche.

I write about —

• My life experiences
• Travel
• Web 3
• Crypto
• Travel/Digital nomad & Expat Lifestyle
• Inspiration/Motivation/Self Improvement.
• Personal Finance
• And what I observe on social media.

I like to switch things up and explore. I write about things on my mind, things I’m learning about, and information I come across.

One creative angle I sometimes use is — observing trending issues on social media, and putting together pieces that gather what people are saying with regards to specific topics.

I enjoy doing this because I don’t necessarily have to write my own thoughts, but instead, gather people’s thoughts on a specific subject to initiate dialogue.

Here are some examples of articles I’ve written this way —

I’m not going to lie, as an introvert I don’t always have something to say, but instead, love to hear what others have to say with respect to different subjects. It stimulates my own thoughts.

Last week, while surfing the internet, I entered the “Ukraine war rabbit hole”. This was right after Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky and his wife Olena Zelenska graced the pages of a Vogue Magazine spread.

While in the social media rabbit hole, I came across all sorts of opinions, and information on the war and the photoshoot. I even discovered some new information I didn’t know like how President Zelensky was an actor who played the role of president of Ukraine in a TV show called “Servant of the People”? I found it fascinating.

To be honest, I was kind of surprised by the other kind of information I was coming across, even from alleged “Ukraine News” Twitter accounts.

I decided to take snapshots of a few different unpopular opinions circulating on social media, and put them together in a short piece where I barely shared my own thoughts and opinions.

In the piece, I shared snapshots of Twitter accounts discussing the photoshoot, as well as, rumors and “conspiracy theories”, which I came across in the “Ukraine war rabbit-hole” on the internet.

I did this with the intention of inviting a conversation, opinions, thoughts, reflections, comments, etc...

I wanted to see if other people had come across this same information and what their thoughts were on the subject.

I was inviting a potential conversation where we could educate one another/dispel these theories etc. But instead, I was met by a barrage of insults.

You can check it out here:

I can’t say I didn’t expect a pushback because — of course, the nature of the topic is sensitive. It’s a war, and people are dying! I know this. I expected people to passionately share their stances, perspectives, and opinions on such an important issue.

To my disappointment though, some people decided to insult me because I was sharing people’s thoughts and perspectives on a subject they didn’t agree with.

It was hurtful! Because my intention was to spark conversation, and not be at the receiving end of insults from other adults.

It got me thinking — should we only hear or be exposed to information we only agree with?

Has the world forgotten how to disagree with each other respectfully?

The truth is — we all mostly get our news and information from the same places over and over again.

From my observation and personal experience, this creates an echo chamber.

For some people, it’s the same news sources over and over again —Like CNN, Fox News, and MSNBC. Or Facebook, or the same magazines like the Washington Post, Insider, etc.

It’s why I enjoy creating and curating pieces like these to share on Medium because I noticed the older Medium folk are more Facebook-oriented, while most of the younger folks frequent Twitter more.

I love to share across bubbles because some Facebook users sometimes don’t have the slightest clue about information circulating on Twitter and vice versa.

Personally, I think it’s so easy for us to get caught up in our own information bubbles, we lose sight of other people’s realities, thoughts, and perspectives on a subject.

We don’t even know what exists and what information is circulating out there outside of our bubbles.

This almost ALWAYS creates a divide!

I saw this happen during the 2016 US Elections when Trump won. The “educated liberals” thought the conservatives were dumb racists. While the conservatives judged the liberals for being naive and ignorant of the “real” agenda of the Hillary Clinton/democratic camp.

It was so messy! Every piece of news that went against one group’s bubble was labeled as fake news or propaganda. The information wars were endless! It was so disorienting.

The same thing happened once again when the Pandemic began. Information was grouped into pro-vax or anti-vax/fake news. This created a situation where people were not encouraged to listen to one another or create room for each other’s perspectives.

Once again, a new division has crept up on us: Pro-Russia or Anti-Ukraine. Or Pro-Ukraine and Anti- Russia. There’s no room for observers or the in-between.

People are quick to cancel and unfollow each other for their differences in opinion.

Personally, I’m getting sick and tired of all the divisions that exist within our society. Especially, in America! It’s so fucking exhausting.

If you don’t agree with someone, they’re automatically an enemy.

If you see things differently, you’re automatically an enemy.

If you gather alternative opinions to the dominant narrative, you’re automatically an enemy.

These divisions have become endless —

• Black vs. White
• Vegan vs. Meat Eaters
• Republican vs. Democrat
• Liberal vs. Conservative
• Pro-vax vs. Anti-vax
• Pro-life vs. Pro-choice
• Pro Russia or Anti-Russia
• Pro-Ukraine or Anti Ukraine

Fuck it! It’s so exhausting!

Is there any room for people like me who don’t want to participate in all these divisions, but just want to listen to arguments and perspectives presented by both sides?

Is there any room for people like me who just like to be in the middle- observing and critiquing both sides?

I’m beginning to doubt it!

What I find fascinating about the group of people who are quick to cancel, delete, shame, berate, and insult others for seeing things differently is — they’re all over social media virtue-signaling, pretending to be the “good ones” while judging others as evil for just thinking differently.

I’m sure you know a few of them! Or maybe, it’s you!

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