Grey areas are what humans are. If you speak to each other in person, this is clear as day. You listen to each other, you see each other and although you may disagree, there’s the capacity to listen, to understand, to have empathy and less judgement of the person in front of you.

Why is this different on social media and the internet?

Why do we all of a sudden latch onto binary ideals, cancel culture and the need to strike people down in shame over transgressions that are trivial?

Is it because we are steered by social media’s collective offering of approval?

Social media was designed with the ability to give everyone a voice, but what’s more important than ever is reflection and deep introspection on how we use our voice and what for.

Jon Ronson’s Ted talk on this is one of the most strikingly profound videos I’ve ever watched on this subject, and I’m glad he spotted the toxic trends and was brave enough to write about it and call it out.

It’s unfortunate that since he released this talk, it becomes more relevant.

He articulates it better than myself so I’ve shared the video below.

It’s an opportunity to think about how we use our voice and we are a lot more in grey areas than social media makes us believe.