on twitter drama_no.1

Twitter is always busy as usual, especially with the recent celebrity cheating incidents, CEO shooting, and now, some debacle between two local microcelebrities/influencers. I have always detested this type of online conflict and how people just crowd over it with a type of enthusiasm that can most likely take down a dictatorship.

I have a firm belief that I am strongly connected with my life's own synchronicity as this online feud between DJ and BJ (as how I would call them in this thought and I would not further name them because people are always besides the point) has been going on for some days now. I have a vague understanding of who they are in their own respective industries or why people care about these personalities so I am not in a position to talk about their actual issue (nor would I exert any effort to find out the true cause). But the thing is, I had a chance of watching Juror #2 last night and it was a good movie that confirms my way to optimally tune out noises on social media.

I am fascinated with how much energy people online spend sweeping through leaked screenshots, numerous subtweets, connecting the dots between events, forming their own theories and conclusions, and posting them online. That's a ton of investigative work. It is a lot of hours and activated neurons that work in a single event. Not to mention that these are happening in real-time. More about the event unfolds, new pieces of information are getting leaked as if the people involved are leaving crumbs for these pigeons online will feed on. I actually feel tired even just talking about it.

But, you can say (and even I always say this to myself to confirm if I'm just operating on my own biases),

"Maybe it's just outside of your circle of interests?"

That is true. But again, I can say I'm passionate about films. I get hyped about an actor's performance. I get too obsessed about a solo artist's creative process and chronically post them online. I watch a lot of microcelebrities who has a large audience on YouTube and Twitch. I have a lot of those whom I'm supporting, passively being informed about their lives because I follow them on social media.

I may have been a witness to a lot of influencer cancellation on social media with those whom I know of and those whom I have no idea about. But regardless if I know them or not, I can't give a single iota of energy into knowing more about them and peeking into their personal lives.

Then there's another layer of posting about it online. To show that you know that this famous person is doing the thing that you know, This is a type of behavior that I've been trying to understand because at the end of it all, I'm trying to understand why is it important to some people to have their thoughts heard by other people. To demonstrate a knowledge that is not widely-known at the time it is shared.

But then again, I'm doing the same thing as I post this thought. The thing is I think I've been desiring the same thing: to be heard. But I stop at the point where I recognize that I'm not supposed to be sharing information about other people, especially if they do not concern me.

Was it a friend? No. A coworker? Not even the slightest. A celebrity? Not even a famous family member? Get out.

In a way, it feels like a self-imposed mental boundary to not expend any energy thinking about the lives of other people. This mindset led me to swim in this thought. I know I don't care about the lives of other people so it's becoming a curious topic for me to think why a lot of people do.

Just like in Juror #2, I am an observer of someone's court trial. The situation begs me to form a verdict whether or not the accused is guilty. It makes me think that the social media space has somehow made people feel that they are part of some jury, therefore we had the running joke of a Supreme Court of Twitter, where people are witch-hunted, burned at the stake upon minutes of rumors spreading like wildfire. Nothing compelled me to share my thoughts about it. In Twitter, no one ever does. But most people often have a visceral reaction about anything. It is the gossiping grounds where everyone is welcome and everyone is judged.

In the same vein, why should you care about what I say?

My only argument is that it is a heavily parasocial effect that melds with our deepest desire to be recognized. If all is in the service of truth and justice, I'm all for it. But again, what truth are we after? To whose justice are we working for? How sure are we that we are not masking our own craving for self-importance with the truth we claim we are after?

Why do people feel they are compelled to participate in the noise? Why do we enjoy being uninvited juries in this digital environment?