Savagery at a distance

THAT today’s social media present certain people with a wonderful tool for agitation is well known.

Twitter in particular (of which I am a frequent user) sometimes presents us with the online equivalent of road rage: people who are probably quite normal and decent, finding it necessary to compress their outrage into 140 characters, let rip at anyone not admiring their revelation of pure truth.

Many, perhaps most, of these perpetrators operate anonymously, giving them the additional cover perfect for the uninhibited online maniac.

Over the last few days I have followed the exchanges between some UK politicians and their would-be online tormentors.

To be impartial, I picked a number of politicians who were involved in current disputes, but selected ones from different parties and different arguments.

What became clear very quickly was that politicians of all shades appear to attract hugely aggressive tweeters, who use language that would be totally unacceptable if used in face-to-face debate.

Secondly, an extraordinary number of angry tweeters use anti-semitic taunts, even where there does not appear to be any Jewish presence in the conversation.

I am not suggesting that a majority does this, but it is clearly present.

I should add that such anti-semitism is not confined to those attacking "Zionism".

In several tweets I found people using words and expressions hostile in racist terms to Jews that I could not possibly repeat.

I should emphasise that the use of such unacceptable and vile epithets was not unique to people of a particular political outlook, though in fairness they were targeted disproportionately at Labour MPs and supporters not backing the party’s leadership.

Other forms of racism and xenophobia also made an appearance, here more often used by those hostile to migrants or opposing left wing causes.

What struck me also was that some of the aggressive tweeters were, or appeared to be, academics or students; not a majority or significant minority, but nevertheless an identifiable and visible group.

Which brings me to the point that started me on this investigation.

University life is now experienced by a very large proportion of the population, at one stage or another in their lives.

Furthermore, this experience is shot through with social media – Facebook, snapchat, whatsapp, Twitter are all part of the higher education reality.

Already a few years ago it was suggested that 75 per cent of students use social media "all the time".

The generation of university staff who avoided computers and wrote everything by hand is gradually leaving the academy, and lecturers too are now of the social media generation.

Cyber behaviour and cyberpsychology are now important subjects of analysis.

It is important that universities accept a degree of responsibility for guiding people on how to live their virtual online lives, and how their lifestyle can have a larger impact on others, and more generally on society.

For me, online tools and facilities are wonderful; but we all need to understand that what happens online is very real, and not just a game.

Savagery, even in what we consider a good cause, is a bad action.