Just finished reading an interview in the Sunday Herald with Nicola Sturgeon. She leads the Yes Scotland campaign for independence, as well as being deputy leader of the Scottish National Party and a big part of her job is utilizing social media to connect with voters. Apparently she receives a lot of abuse, up to and including death threats, while doing so, particularly via Twitter. I just find this unbelievable. Most importantly, I find it pretty disgusting that people use the internet as a shield to hide behind while they spread their vicious hate – it’s cowardly, irritating and just plain childish. The internet has such great potential for spreading knowledge, and ‘love’ (forgive me for my hippie moment), it seems such a terrible shame to waste that opportunity by using the incredible resource that we’re lucky to have to try and hurt others. Don’t people have better things to do with their time? But it also occurred to me, if you do insist on using your Twitter account or any form of online communication to make someone else’s day just a little bit more miserable, why not target your anger at someone who might actually deserve it? Send an angry email to the companies who try and keep homosexuality out of video games, or those who run adverts discriminating against women. Tweet a racist football player. Not a politician who is trying to do her job, and in her view at least, try and make Scotland into a better place. Considering all the benefits that her party have brought to Scotland, I’m thinking that perhaps she’s not doing such a bad job, and even for those who clearly disagree, can it really be argued that her work has been so terrible she deserve to die for it? There are much worthier candidates of the anger channeled towards her. I am in no way encouraging anyone to go and abuse others over the internet, or in any other way for that matter, but if you do insist on wasting your time in this way, why not actually do it in a way that might make a difference, or pick a target a little more deserving? You’ll still be a bit of a git if you ask me, but at least you’ll be a git with a decent cause.
Death Threats? Really?
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