Cyberbullying
The following passage are an excerpt from a TED speech about cyberbullying (and I’ve forgotten the full name of this speech).
When chatting online, we may think our words are just the words. We don’t need to take responsibility for what we have said, even when our words really hurt others – we just keep silent, having no courage to confess it.
Social network is basically a mutual approval machine. We just surround ourselves with people who feel the same way we do, and we approve each other. That’s a really good feeling.
The greatest thing about social media is how it gives a voice to voiceless people. I still remember the early days of social network, when people admit shameful secrets about themselves, and others would say, “Oh, that’s also what I’m thinking about.”
But now, we are creating a surveillance society, where every one of us may fall the victim to the cyberbullying. You may lead a good, ethical life, but some bad phraseology on social network can overwhelm it all, becoming a clue to your so-called “secret inner evil”.
Under this circumstance, maybe the smartest way to survive is to go back to being voiceless. However, if we just hang back and reserve, doing nothing, we will find that the situation get even worse. People may just create a stage for artificial high dramas, where everybody is either a magnificent hero or a sickening villain, even though we know that’s not true about our fellow humans. What is really true, is that we are clever and stupid, that we are all living in grey areas.
MISC
Schaut her, schaut her, schaut keinem ins gesicht.
Hallo!
Hallo. Wie heißen Sie?
Ich heiße GDR. Woher kommen Sie?
Ich komme aus China.
So, wo wohnen Sie?
Ich wohne in Shanghai.
O, ich wohne auch in Shanghai.
Wohin kommst du?
Ich komme nach Deutschland.