Points Made In This Article

Social media needs to provide more accountability and security
Most police officers are honorable people, doing their best to protect and serve
Peace will never come from any form of violence
Conservative extremists and the #shootthepolice extremists are the same kind of people

Social Media

Note: I want to be clear: social media is not bad when it is used in a positive way.

I have made it clear how I about feel social media: it lacks regulation and accountability. Why is it always after school shootings, or in this case the killing of two NYPD officers, that social media evidence piles up? In most cases, these users use their public pages, and the warnings are apparent.

We all have the right to free speech, but as Americans, we also have the right to protection. Social media has become bigger than all of us, and the most reliable source to spread nonsense at the speed of light. For example, look at the recent hacks and threats from terrorists… How did they attack us? Social media. Social media is 100% psychological.

There have been many killers and shooters that use social media prior to attacks. Perhaps they would have spoken to someone or did something that might have been a red flag. But people don’t talk anymore. They tweet. You can’t determine tone nor observe facial expressions in 140 characters.

We have a social responsibility to report and notify authorities if we witness behaviors that warrant action.

Why do you think panic ensued when the infamous Instagram purge took place? While horrible events were taking place in the world that day (every day), the only thing people could talk about was Instagram. Everyone: celebrities and ALL entertainers alike are in this rat race to have the most followers, to be cool, to say things for likes and promotion. Everyone is behaving like crabs in the barrel, because they are attempting to keep up a fantasy that we have forgotten is not reality! Social media is NOT REALITY.

See Article: #TheDayWeKilledTheFuture

Social media spreads worse than gossip because it happens more rapidly (which also makes it seem urgent). You have opinions, lies, desperation for clicks, “funny guys,” the “I just want to talk” people, and somewhere in between you have the facts. It’s a cesspool of opinions that people are using as facts. You have actual NEWS SOURCES that sometimes fall by the wayside because all the teens, the “say anything” people, and so forth, dominate social media. The more likes and favorites you have, the more “valid” and “relevant” your point becomes. This is devastating to true journalism, and most importantly to FACTS and REALITY. People don’t read anymore, therefore some people are unaware of true facts. They are all too consumed with pandemonium and the truth according to friends and followers. You have all these groups seeking attention by doing and saying outrageous things. Social media causes anxiety. That is a fact and not an opinion.

See Scholarly Articles: Scholarly Articles: Among Loneliness, Social Anxiety, and Problematic Internet Use

The problem with social media is that you can say anything, and when you say anything, anything and everything can happen. People aren’t being held accountable, social media isn’t being held accountable. Twitter and Facebook could be doing better but because they are monster corporations, no one wants to take a stand.

The fact is, the man who killed the two NYPD officers, neither stood for a Movement or Mental Stability. So, why is it that people are reading into his messages and linking him to a group or race? This man was not mentally stable so why are we attempting to think as though we understood him? For understanding him in depth would mean you agree with his actions because you think as he does. He was mentally unstable. The “Shoot The Police” Extremists and Conservative Extremists groups seem to be fighting that exact fight. However, this isn’t the first time the media and social media attempted to reason with a mentally unstable person.

See Santa Barbara School Shooting: Elliot Rodger’s Retribution

We are not fighting a WAR of just violence but this is a war on ignorance

#ShootThePolice Extremists

We are all living in a fantasy and no one wants to wake up until someone goes too far, but by then people have already fallen back asleep.

Everyone wants to be a part of something, be a “movement,” “make history,” but few are willing to learn from history. The world has evolved and honestly, change doesn’t come in protest, but in policy. Evidence of this can be seen in light of recent events and happenings. The #HandsUpDontShoot movement proved that a community who is rumored to have no ability to work with one another, can do just that.

However, due to a small group of violent individuals, riots occurred. Everyone wanted to go out, protest, and use their voices, but one thing was missing: Direction. What was ever the purpose of going upon freeways, rioting, and stopping ambulances? What was the intended outcome? How was that intended to bring about change? It lacked direction and organization, which I am sure left some protesters with the feeling of: “Ok, now what?”

The peaceful protesters should not be grouped in with those who took the violent route and began looting and rioting. Those who rioted were simply criminals looking for an excuse to commit crime. Unfortunately they acted during the same time as peaceful protesters, in attempts to mask themselves and provide justification for their actions. Similarly, those who supported the #ShootThePolice movement are fundamentally and ideologically different from those who peacefully protested police brutality.

“The problem is everyone wants to be a hero but no one is willing to save anyone but themselves”

The reality of situation is, all cops aren’t bad. In fact, most of them are honorably doing their jobs, protecting and serving us all. We are so quick to forget about 9/11 and all the shootings that resulted in officers’ deaths. The cops put their lives on the line EVERY DAY to save yours. We forget about officers who break cases and bring loved ones home. Some fail to see that, because they do not realize what officers do to keep us safe behind the scenes daily. Granted, all police officers aren’t perfect, but all of them are not bad either. If a protester was attacked on the way home, who would you have called? If your child went missing when you returned home, who would you have called? If your house was broken into, who would you have called? If you were involved in a hit and run, who would have taken the report?

Essentially, some groups profiled cops as they complained the cops did to them. All police are not responsible for one cop’s actions, just as all black people are not responsible for those who riot and resort to violence. What some fail to realize is that if you are protesting against innocent cops and throwing items into their faces, well don’t they have a right to protect themselves and other civilians around them?

There is also a harsh reality that some African Americans are killing each other EVERY DAY. Where are the protests for those lives lost? Where is the uproar for those senseless killings, and the sons and daughters who were taken away? Where are the walk-ons to the freeway for some of our sons, husbands, wives, daughters, brothers and sisters, boyfriends and girlfriends? Black lives do matter, but we must remember that first. We are killing each other. That’s also injustice! A man who I loved deeply was murdered in cold blood, and where are HIS killers? No one knows, no one cares. Where are his signs? I know as some read this they are ready to call me a self-hating black person or a traitor. But remember this, self-hate is killing your own and being a traitor is doing nothing about it. Black lives do matter.

The greatest act of injustice is the hypocrisy of retaliation.

In high school, my classmate was shot by police officers behind the Safeway, because they thought his bag of candy was a gun. It was wrong, so wrong. I realize there is injustice every day, I am not blind nor ignorant to it. We should stand up to injustice and use our voices, but never violence.

There is no justice in injustice

Conservative Extremists

Many different groups have contributed to hysteria and the current state of pandemonium. The fact is that some right-winged extremists make outlandish accusations and assertions simply to make Democratic leaders, especially President Obama, appear ineffective regardless of the validity of the claims. They often broach issues of race, and encourage racist ideas when an issue has nothing to do with race, whatsoever.

While everyone is entitled to their own opinion, making such outlandish accusations is quite shameful and only adds to the dissension between political parties, perpetuating the growing ideological divide in the nation. It is one thing to provide constructive criticism of political leaders, but that criticism should be rooted in facts and not just propaganda. Extreme conservatives often flood social media with false reports and conspiracy theories, which only add to the chaos of these already complex issues and problems.

Either you’re a part of the solution to a problem or you are creating the problem that is a result of your solution.

When you create tension within races, you are creating more problems in the world. Then you ultimately become less than what you choose to hate.

Moving Forward

In order for things to improve, both sides will have to be honest. If you don’t support one political party or the other, that is your right, and you should be able to voice that opinion. But don’t try to mislead others by spewing messages that don’t have any validity just to prove a point. Police aren’t all bad and we need them.

There is a reason why terrorists recruit in times of chaos and violence. It’s because people are weakest in times of fear and uncertainty. The country is weakest during times of dissension. What will it take for us to stand together as a nation? I know how pretentious it may be to some when I attempt to tell the truth… but truth is necessary to bring about change. We need to be empathetic to the truth and struggles of others in order to find a common ground to start from. Upon that common ground we can build a peaceful, more productive future for us all. Fill your time or timeline with positivity.

This Holiday Season go outside a little more, call people, have a five minute face to face conversation, look at someone and tell them you love them, thank someone for doing their job well today, let your kids know you’re proud of them, ask about each other, ask about school, get know your friends by talking to them, be kind to a stranger, open the door for someone, say one less swear word on the 405 freeway this week, remind yourself of the color of your friends’ eyes, and come back to the real world.