Of course I'm talking about the outcome of the US election in which Voldemort Donald Trump emerged victorious and dragged society back several decades in terms of equality and progressive, reasonable thought in general. I say dragged, but people seem to have voted for this dystopian nightmare, so, on all of our heads be it.
I could continue to talk about how unfathomable it is, but the thing that's really struck me is how unexpected it was. We all knew it could happen but I feel like, deep down, we weren't quite as apprehensive as we should have been come Election Day. The culprit? An online echo chamber filled with other idealistic souls who believed in humanity and logic above racism and hate.
If you're not familiar with the term 'echo chamber', or how it particularly relates to social media, essentially what I mean is that when you only hear the thoughts of those who share your ideology, you'll share your views, hear the same ones coming back at you and sort of assume that the general population holds the same views that you do. I've never felt this to be more true than with this election. Thinking back to Brexit (boo, hiss) there was a strong element of this, but venture outside of Facebook and you'd still find at least some people who would argue that leaving the EU might make economic sense, for example. With Clinton vs Trump, everyone I know/follow were ALL on the same side. How can we let this terrifying reality tv gargoyle with a God complex and daughter issues run the most powerful country in the world? It's madness, right?
Unfortunately, this was not the case. Though I take comfort in the popular vote (because Hillary actually, technically got more votes than Trump) there are still enough people out there who wanted him to win. They can't ALL be that racist, sexist, can they? I genuinely can't comprehend it - because up until a few days ago, I simply hadn't been presented with the reality that so many people DID support him.
I think there's certainly something to look at in terms of this online phenomenon making us unable to sympathise with other people's views, as we're not necessarily hearing their views in the first place. That’s certainly the case when I try and understand the perspective of the people who chose to vote Trump. I simply can’t understand it, and maybe we all need to make an effort to find out why people made the choices they did in the ballot box.
But in the case of Mr Trump himself, and the things he has said and done, this isn't about respecting someone else's views. Disrespecting huge portions of the human race is not a 'view'. Thinking it's okay to grab a woman by the crotch is not a 'view' - it's sexual assault. This has happened to me, by the way. It's not a joke. Suspicion of every single person from a particular country is not a 'view' - it's xenophobia. Making fun of disabled people is not a 'view' - it's, well, vile. Sadly I could go on and on.
You can probably tell that a lot of this is coming from a place of intense frustration, and honestly, I just feel hurt and let down by this result. Not only for myself as a woman but for all of the people, particularly in America, who feel that their own country has abandoned them, disrespected them, or outright hate them. I have a lot of privilege as a white person, which I acknowledge; I can't even imagine the personal pain of all the others who fall into alternative categories who have been disparaged by the Trump campaign, or in fact multiple categories.
I think the only thing to take away at this point is a lesson. Social media is tailored. Honestly I don't have a problem with this with my day-to-day dealings on Facebook. But when it comes to intense, sociopolitical events such as the one we've just witnessed, we can't take our own arenas as a mirror on the world. If we really want to get an accurate view on things then there's a lot more research to be done than can be found on your Facebook newsfeed. If you want to avoid a repeat of this in four years, it's time to get out there and make sure this doesn't happen again.
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This article originally appeared on The Debrief.