YouTube is not the bully
Published 16 August 2007
Don't blame the internet for bringing social ills to our attention.
Some people are so quick to judge. At the beginning of August, the national treasure that is Sir Elton John was reported, albeit by that other great national treasure, the Sun newspaper, as calling for a complete closure of the internet. Apparently, Reg was advocating an experimental halt to all internet traffic in order to see whether, as he believed it might, such a return to our creative roots would stem the tide of mediocrity in popular music. As part of his Luddite rant, Elton chastised Sun readers, telling them to "get out there - communicate", which prompted one of my more sardonic email pals to quip: "You can see he's really got the whole internet thing, can't you?"
That very same day, delegates at the Professional Association of Teachers conference backed a motion calling for the total shutdown of the video-sharing site YouTube, in order to help stop bullying in schools. Such naysaying would be enough to drive one into a white-hot rage, were it not so amusing. Preparing to leave the house for work last week, I was stopped in my tracks by a slot on Radio 4's increasingly geriatric Today programme, wherein Gyles Brandreth, president of the Association of British Scrabble Players, was pleasantly ribbing the creator of an online version called Scrabulous for taking the social activity out of the beautiful game.
As this week's issue goes to press, I have advanced one year closer to 30. But I am still young enough to believe passionately that this newfangled technology is on the whole a Good Thing; that the democratisation of media is not a threat, but a powerful force for change in our society; that letting people with shared tastes connect, regardless of geographic location, encourages diversity, not mediocrity; and that complaining that socialising online is not really socialising at all is just, well, a bit dumb. The older I get, the stronger grows my resolve that I will not judge the fads of the younger generation of technology enthusiasts when it comes to my turn to be the old fogey. For a start, it's so unbecoming.
Of course, there's more to the mistrust of technology than old-fashioned, cross-generational wariness. When things go wrong, we need something easy to blame, and the easiest thing in the world is to blame the new guy, especially if you don't quite, you know, "get" him. So what if classroom bullying has existed since children and schools? Let's shut YouTube! So Simon Cowell upped sticks and moved to LA? No worries - we can blame MySpace instead for our pop music sounding crap!
But complex problems require complex solutions. The advance of communications technology, which increases the flow of information from all corners of the world, is bound to bring more social ills to our attention. Old and young alike, we're going to have to get used to treating the stuff that does get swung our way like grown-ups, instead of just shooting the messenger.
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