Friday, April 19, 2013

Unfiltered Access

"Do you value your freedom of speech? If you do, then exercise your rights and get a Twitter account - even if you don't use it!" 

My Anthropology professor made this comment the other day in regards to how social media has created a social revolution. 

As a 21 year old, I honestly rarely turn on the news. But I check Twitter everyday. Within an hour of the Boston bombings, I had access to unfiltered and raw information from thousands of different vantage points. 

The pictures were unedited - the information unbiased. 

Within fifteen minutes of the bombing in Waco, I was able to watch it happen via a video posted on Twitter - and I live in Idaho. 

I knew about a earthquake on the Pakistan border 
only a few hours after it happened. 

Unlike people of my parents' generation, I do not have to turn to the news to know what's going on in the world. And I support the news - don't get me wrong. I want to be a broadcaster even. But the news can be incredibly biased. And social media, while sometimes subject to ignorance and oddity, helps deliver authentic information. 

As a result, we are made constantly of the sadness in the world. 

This week, social media has been flooded with tragedy after tragedy. I am continuously aware of bombings, murders, and robberies - these things seem to stand out a little next to 
silly Facebook banter and pictures of peoples' food on Instagram. 

As a result, I have been thinking a lot. Reflecting. I think everyone has. 
I'm grateful to know about these things, 
but I am burdened with the weight of knowledge. 

The only thing we can do is pray - and lay those burdens at feet of the One who can make anything work together for the good. He can take what the enemy meant for destruction and somehow work it out. And that is beyond my understanding. But it does bring peace. 

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