But first, r-e-a-d this (itty bitty thoughts)
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OMG, you guys. OMG.
Did you know that Harley Davidson endorsed Biden and Harris?
Did you know that Charlie Brown specials won’t be aired on network television anymore because those shows offend people?
YoU gUYs DiD YOu eVEn knOW??
(Imagine Amy sighing heavily.
Shaking her head.
Maybe adding a little something to her morning coffee.)
Y’all.
Please listen to me.
My itty bitty thought for today is a really big request.
Please. Read. Stuff. Before. You. Press. Share.
and
Please. Dig. Into. Stuff. Before. You. Pass. It. Around.
The Harley Davidson Thing
The above picture was shared with me on social media a couple days ago.
“AMy, yOu HavE to SEll yOUr HarLEY NOw BeCAusE LOok at THIs…” (insert shrieks and mouth frothing)
I decided to look into the Harley thing, not because of who they were supposedly endorsing, but because I thought it would be a pretty bold (stupid, pointless) move for anyone to come out as endorsing anyone so close to the election.
As it turns out the Harley Davidson Biden Harris light display has nothing to do with Harley Davidson. It’s simply a “bat light” that was projected onto the Harley Davidson Museum by the United Steelworkers union. They’ve projected the Biden Harris lights onto various things around the country, including the Trump Tower.
“This was always meant to be fun…” said the USW spokesperson Jess Kamm Broomell.
Fun?
I think fun is a basket of kittens in my barn, but…whatever.
Social media is a powerful thing. It can spread rumors—and it can also be a way for companies to go about trying to stop those rumors, as shown on the Harley Davidson Facebook page:
In just a couple clicks more than it would have taken me to share something, I had my answers. Research doesn’t require a card catalog or an Encyclopedia Britannica anymore. Take the extra time technology gives you and use the interwebs to at least attempt to fact check something before you share it.
The Charlie Brown Thing
“AMY! TheY’RE taKinG CHarLie BrOWn oFF TV beCAuSE pEoPLe ARe OffENDed BY It. AMy, WhAT iS ThiS WOrlD ComINg TO?”
My thirteen seconds of research tells me the Charlie Brown thing has zero to do with someone being offended and pulling it from network television. It’s apparently because the Peanuts shows are now under an exclusive contract with AppleTV+ and therefore it doesn’t appear the holiday specials can be shown on network television.
You guys, the information was right. in. the. articles. that. were. shared.
You know, the articles shared with status updates like, those Nazi terrorists are taking away my Charlie Brown holiday specials now? or Great. Now the snowflakes have gotten rid of Charlie Brown, too!
You guys. Can we at least save the 2020 shrieking and mouth frothing for things that are actually true?
The Uncomfortable Truth
It doesn’t matter if right now the topic is Charlie Brown or Harley Davidson. Last week, it was something different. Tomorrow it will be something else. The problem, however, is the same.
We live in a time where opinions are passed as fact. Where headlines are creatively written with half truths. Where anything can be photoshopped. Where things can be attributed to certain people with a slight twist of words. Where alliances can be implied with pictures.
And it works because very few people ever look past the quick headline or first glance of a photo.
The uncomfortable truth is this:
The issue isn’t social media.
The issue is us.
— Amy Dingmann 10-22-20
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Oh, sigh, sigh, sigh, oh, big ol’ sigh. I agree completely with you, Amy. The art of critical thinking is going down the tubes right along with the rest of our sane society. I literally want to tear my hair when someone looks me right in the eye and says innocently, “But I saw it on the nightly news!” and believes with all their being it has to, therefore, be true. At the risk of people wanting to think I’m the one who is bat-poop-crazy, I want to tell them, if you are scared, upset, mad, feeling hopeless, use your energy to do some critical thinking. A lofty concept, perhaps, but just common sense at its base.
Reading and thinking is important. If we lose that, we won’t have anything left. O_o
This is so true. And I admit that I have fallen for this crap before because I didn’t take the time to read the article first.
But I’m still sad Peanuts specials won’t be on broadcast TV anymore. 😥
When we were first married/had kids, we just had those few channels and it was a special event to have a cartoon on at night, you know? Ah, how things change.
I’m struggling to have meaningful conversations with people because if this exact problem. It seems as though the fast paced life that has normal has taught us that it’s no longer important to research all sides of an issue to form ones own opinion on the subject. The silver lining for me is that streaming services don’t have the news unless you look for it, and I don’t have to see political ads.
That has been the strangest part of being at the gym right now — all the tv screens with constant political ads. O_o
Maybe it helps with motivation to work harder? Like running from zombies or taking your frustrations out on a deserving politician?
I didn’t think of that! Good point!
My goodness! THANK YOU for posting this. Seriously one of my biggest pet peeves. The sad thing is.. this is multigenerational. I have family in their 70s posting stuff like this and getting just as outraged as the young teens. It’s all going to be ok, guys. I promise.
It absolutely is multi-generational. It’s a people thing, not an age thing. If it was an age thing, it might be easier to solve. O_o
I am always telling my very smart husband… don’t believe everything you see on the FB and the news. Check it out!!! Most the time he does.