This was one of my first tweets, and it was made the first week we watched Citizen Four. It says, "The judges look so unimpressed", referring to the scenes where the NSA director is being interrogated. He blatantly lies to the judges over and over again when asked if he and other members of the NSA were aware and if they were than why didn't they do anything. The judges he was lying to, meanwhile, looked completely, utterly, and absolutely unimpressed. The director continued to try and pull a fast one on the judges, much like someone who makes a joke that isn't obviously racist in a diverse room but turns out to be the only one to laugh.
Honestly, how dumb does he think those judges are? I don't even have a college degree yet and I could tell just from his rhetoric and body language he was lying.
Anyways, this got me thinking about lying on the internet. It's more difficult, I believe, to lie in the real world (the world outside of the internet) than on the web. For one, on the web you can choose pseudonyms and, usually you are encouraged to. It is safer. Unless you want to make a professional presence on the web, you shouldn't give out a full name (except on Facebook). Two, you can hide behind an endless supply of false info that can support your lie. Google and Wikipedia have some good sources, but there is a TON of crap out there too. Often, people who suspect you might be lying are too lazy to really investigate and put your claim through a fact check (I am one of those people). Three, and possibly the largest reason, you are just one liar out of millions.
It could be said that everyone is somewhat of a liar on the internet. It's not a secret that most of us put on a different mask--or take one off--when we log on to Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook. Most of us make our lives appear like one big adventure. In reality, we're ordinary people with completely normal lives devoid of swashbuckling adventures. Unfortunately.
I suppose the question is, though, is it bad to lie so much on the internet? It was stupid and a crime for the NSA director to lie under oath, but what about the rest of us who just want to have fun on social media? I think it's alright to have a pseudonym: it's for safety, not to be deceitful. The last thing you want is to meet a creeper online. What I do NOT think is okay is to lie about serious things, such as global warming, refugee crises, wars, and other terrible things that happen in reality. You can be snarky or ironic--heck, I'm those all the time. But to say that there really aren't any refugees from Syria and other Middle Eastern countries and that it's not really a crisis, well, sorry (not sorry), but I do not like people like you. And I will not listen to you.
Sadly, some people will, and this can create problems. Denying something like the refugee crisis is like denying the Holocaust ever happened. It's wrong. It downplays a serious issue that must be addressed and continued to be addressed until it is resolved. I'm not saying you have to donate half your income to charity or fly overseas to help (please don't do this unless you have special training); I am only asking to spread the truthful word around. That's all!
Whoa. That got really serious and a little ranty. My apologies. I leave you to your thinking that hopefully I initiated.
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