“We talk a lot about our right to freedom of expression, but we need to talk more about our responsibility to freedom of expression. We all want to be heard, but let’s acknowledge the difference between speaking up with intention and speaking up for attention. The Internet is the superhighway for the id, but online, showing empathy to others benefits us all and helps create a safer and better world. We need to communicate online with compassion, consume news with compassion, and click with compassion. Just imagine walking a mile in someone else’s headline.” – Monica Lewinsky
Monica Lewinsky has been in
over forty rap songs. For almost two decades, she has also been the target of
punchlines, puns, and comedy sketches in more ways than one individual can
count. A lifetime has passed since the scandal that rocked the United States
and in some ways, it’s evident to see that Bill Clinton has been forgiven,
Monica however continues to wear the invisible scarlet letter that labels her
as just one thing and nothing more.
I first learned about Monica
Lewinsky in the fourth grade. And while I don’t recall as to how I came across
her, I do remember how violently she was attacked. In my young, impressionable
mind however, she was given the treatment because she deserved it.
Fast-forward to 2014 and
Monica comes out of her “self imposed” decade of silence by speaking up to
Vanity Fair. No longer 10 years old, my curiosity as a 26 year
old couldn’t help but click on the link to see how she could have possibly
survived a scandal that can’t seem to escape her. She thought her silence would
be enough to wash everything away but that wasn’t the case.
So she decided to speak to
give herself a chance to change her narrative and while reading through her
article, I couldn’t help but think how many mistakes have we made that caused
people to think of us differently?
As I read through her
recollection of what happened in the past 17 years and how it has affected every
facet of her life, I couldn’t help but be thankful over the fact that my life’s
biggest mistakes were not broadcasted on a larger scale. How difficult it would
be to introduce one’s self when a perception has already been made and how
difficult it is to jumpstart on a life that has already been defined by others.
In a world where everything
happens in a click, it’s no surprise to note that many ordinary people deal
with what Monica dealt with a good seventeen years ago. There used to be a time
when our mistakes could be hidden in the shadows, however now, with the rise of
social media and overly efficient gadgets, mistakes are brought to larger
scale. And instead of just dealing with our physical community, we are faced to
also answer to a larger, anonymous one: the Internet.
This new culture of
humiliation as penned by Monica is what made her come out of hiding. Imbibed
with passion, Monica is determined to promote a culture of sympathy and empathy
within the internet community and while it may seem like an impossibility, it
is not improbable.
Most of us are still
grappling with our understanding of the Internet. No other generation has been
given such freedom and with this freedom comes many perks, the ability to work
from home, the wonderful opportunity to connect with loved ones, and even the
prospect of meeting the love of our lives online. However, attached with these
perks is the abuse of it. How many stories have we heard of cyberbullying in
the past three months alone? How many lives have we lost because children, who
are not yet equipped to handle the mental and emotional distress of being
humiliated, have chosen the easy way out too soon?
Our gadgets give us the
chance to be in control, however, how control are we truly? The truth is there
is no control. The moment something is uploaded on the internet, it stays there
forever. So while it’s equally important to take care of ourselves and what we
post, we must also apply the same caution to those around us. If we know that
what we’re uploading or sharing will cause harm, do we continue to upload it
for the sake of a few more likes? Or do we stop and wonder, what if this was
me? My mom? A loved one? Will I humiliate them in this way?
Empathy is so difficult to
find on the internet, but it really isn’t difficult to adhere to. All you have
to think of is this, “If this was me, how would I feel?”
It takes us back to
kindergarten, our earliest values, and yet sometimes, these are the values that
we easily forget. It’s time to wake up and once and for all believe that
bullying, especially cyberbullying, will finally come to an end.
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