Change the world one post at a time
I spend a lot of time on social media sites. For one, I like being informed of current events, and social media is an almost instant conveyer of information. I believe Facebook is a platform for just that – sharing information, and chatting to other people.
Lately, however, I’ve noticed a couple of trends on Facebook. The two that really got me going is the “save the rhino” campaign, and today again the “stop pet cruelty” campaign. Now I agree with both. Nobody has the right to just go on a rhino killing spree purely because of a vague rumour that the ground horn has unequalled medicinal use. And we all know that pets are helpless and of course yet again, nobody has the right to bully, harm, hurt or mutilate an animal because of some perverted reason.
The solution, apparently, is to continually spam all and sundry with bloody and graphic photographs of dead, hornless rhinos. Apparently the continual sharing and liking of these horrific photographs will somehow stop the culling of rhinos. Now, I don’t know about this. I’m not a rhino horn reseller, and I have no intention of ever shooting or harming a rhino. I sincerely doubt if anybody who does have any intention of selling rhino horn will be disuaded by these Facebook messages. But still they continue – daily.
The same with the anti-pet cruelty. The latest solution is to apparently change all our Facebook profile pics to pets. Let me tell you – I already feel like a dog sometimes, and I have my dog-looking days. Yet again I don’t think that changing my photograph to my dog’s mug is going to change anybody’s attitude towards pets. If a person has a cruel streak within them, we are hardly going to “cure” this by plastering Facebook with pics of pets.
There are many more realistic and pro-active ways that works – initiatives that people can join if they really want to make a pro-active difference in real life. There are many ideas on www.savetherhino.org or even on www.bethecause.org, and funnily enough – none of these initiatives involve posting photographs to Facebook.
If we want to use our Facebook profiles to change the world, why not focus on things we can change, and that will make a difference? Motivational posts are always uplifting. What about sharing tips about being more eco-conscious?
Nobody can convey the message I am expressing here better than Mother Theresa: “I was once asked why I don’t participate in anti-war demonstrations. I said that I will never do that, but as soon as you have a pro-peace rally, I’ll be there.”