Let’s listen to one another

Resorting to personal attacks will not persuade critics or win them over to our causes.

SOCIAL media has made the world smaller. Now, discourse and debates can occur across continents and time zones.

When something of note happens in rural America, it will be discussed as far off as South-East Asia. The Internet as a whole and social media specifically have allowed information to spread to as many people as possible.

Groups of people who would not have been able to interact with each other are now connected. In the Malaysian context, it means that different segments of our society have been brought closer by social media.

With social media, someone in Johor Baru can interact with someone in Kota Kinabalu. With social media, an upper middle-class person in Taman Tun Dr Ismail can discuss with a person living in Sg Petani.

The start of the social media revolution resulted in a rich and dynamic exchange of information. Ideas and information are being disseminated, discussed and challenged.

In Malaysia, social media became the breeding ground for alternative, dissenting or fringe views, which would not have normally been given an outlet in the mainstream.

We relished the freedoms we enjoyed on social media and we appreciated the diverse views on offer.

But as social media grew bigger, the interactions slowly changed. What started off as a means for discourse and discussions has now become one part echo chamber and another part the hunting ground for mobs in search of contrary opinions.

We have simply stopped listening to each other on social media.

Now, when we say something, we say it to those who already subscribe to our views. We are happy being hoisted by those who agree with us with retweets, shares and likes. We even actively seek those validations.

At the same time, we seek out opposing views not to engage, but to shut down, to silence and to drown out. We hunt in packs and in mobs, to call out or to label those whom we disagree with. Sometimes, we even resort to ad hominem (personal) attacks on our opponents.

Instead of bringing us closer, social media has deepened our societal fault lines. We have now become so entrenched in our views and opinions that we do not tolerate anything else.

I myself have been guilty of this. Many a time, instead of engaging with someone on social media whose views I disagree with, I instead elect to hang the person out to dry, witnessed by those who follow me on social media.

This approach will only harden positions. For those who are advocating for a particular cause, this approach will actually be counterproductive.

We cannot convince someone with our arguments if all we do is shout them down or resort to personal attacks. We are not going to persuade anyone if we do not even make the effort to understand.

We must start listening to each other again. Listening does not mean we have to compromise our positions. Listening does not mean we must agree with what is being said.

Yet if we just listened to each other, we could start to understand each other better.