Is posting support for Paris narcissistic or heartfelt?
Kissing! Life! Champagne and joy! #Parisisaboutlife.”
A third group of commenters discouraged people from posting anything – because, in their view, any Paris-related post would inevitably be more narcissistic than sympathetic. (In the case of people posting smiling vacation selfies in front of touristy Parisian landmarks, they may be right.)
One essayist, Jamie Khoo, argued that the redundant messages of empathy lend themselves more to image-crafting than support for a grieving nation. In an Elephant Journal story called “Why I’m not turning my Facebook photo blue, white and red”, she said, “I feel that just changing my photo, writing a few words and hashtag minimises (even cheapens) the tremendous, horrific reality of what is going on all around the world, not just in Paris.”
“It irritates me how other people treat it like an art or photo contest,” one Facebook commenter wrote.
Predictably, those who have participated in these rites responded angrily to what they saw as trying to police their emotional expression. Who is to say that posting a beautiful photo or a message of solidarity isn’t a valid enough way to care?
North thinks it is. She is among the many who posted about her love and sympathy for Paris. I did, too.
“I did it for the same reason as many, that we actually do care for the strangers who were victimised and the others who were terrorised by this attack,” North said.
Because social media brings us closer than ever to the victims of faraway attacks, it is possible that we feel more deeply than we would have in a preFacebook era. Not to mention, it is easy to put oneself in the shoes of the victims.
That was certainly on our minds, as my husband and I had dined on Thursday night at a restaurant a block and a half away from La Belle Equipe, where at least 19 people died 24 hours later. We wanted to go on Friday, but changed our plans because we figured we wouldn’t be able to get a table on a weekend evening in such a busy neighbourhood.
When people say, “It could have been me”, they’re making it all about them. But isn’t the point of terrorism that it could have been us – or anyone in the wrong place at the wrong time? – Washington Post