Truth Social — A Much Needed Move that Will Not Work
After being banned along with many of his supporters from liberal social media giants, former president of the United States Donald Trump launched this week his own social platform, Truth Social. The platform focuses on diversity. The first paragraph in the app description demonstrates it: “Think of a giant outdoor event tent at your best friend’s wedding. Who’s there? The combination of multiple families from all over the United States, and the world. Uncle Jim from Atlanta is a proud libertarian. Aunt Kellie from Texas is a staunch conservative. Your cousin John from California is a die-hard liberal. And guess what? They’re all together to have an amazing time and share their different viewpoints on the world. Although we don’t always agree with each other, we welcome these varied opinions and the robust conversation they bring.”
Any change in social media, or any form of media, depends only on whether, and to what extent, we ourselves change. If we want to bond, social media will help us bond; if we want separation, social media will help us divide. This is why it is essential that we stop trying to prove that we are right and start trying to show that we care for one another and want to form one, united society above all the differences.
On the one hand, I think it has to be this way: open to everyone. The liberal tech giants have become intolerably brazen and audacious. On the other hand, I think it is a big problem to give equal presence to all the views because if you want to open the platform to everyone, you are likely to lose everything.
I understand the aspiration to tell the truth, to bring a little justice and balance into the news media. At the same time, I do not think that truth exists where there are people. Because of the corrupt nature of humans, even projects that begin with the best, and purest, intentions end in corruption and depravity.
You might try to balance the inherent bias by participating in social platforms from both sides of the political aisle, but this, too, will not work. Instead of getting a complete picture, you will get two pictures, warped and distorted in two opposite ways.
If you are seeking the truth, know this: There is no truth where the ego guides our thoughts and feelings. The ego sees only its own side. Since reality consists of multiple sides, the ego cannot see the real picture of reality. Therefore, any view, by default, is wrong.
The only possible solution to the division in society is to stop looking for the truth and start looking for love, or at least, for some level of care and concern for one another. If we change how we relate to one another, we will not need to build separate media platforms to express our views because we will welcome each other’s views.
The internet, like every manmade system, reflects our nature. Since our nature is inherently corrupt, so is the internet. It will not change until the people who make it change.
Currently, we are so divided that we are not even looking for the truth. All we want is for people to tell us that we are right. Accordingly, we go on social media in search of like-minded people, and the media platforms realize it and cater to our wishes by presenting to us only people who think like us and speak like us.
As a result, society has become divided into multiple “parallel universes,” and each universe thinks that its own reality is the only one, since it never meets the inhabitants of other universes.
Since social media aspires to keep us on it for as long as possible, it will show us different views only when we begin to look for them. If we seek to connect with people who hold alternative viewpoints to ours, social media will introduce them to us. If we seek to find our own image in the reflection, this is what we will see.
Therefore, any change in social media, or any form of media, depends only on whether, and to what extent, we ourselves change. If we want to bond, social media will help us bond; if we want separation, social media will help us divide. This is why it is essential that we stop trying to prove that we are right and start trying to show that we care for one another and want to form one, united society above all the differences.