As a teenager of the 1980s I used to have nightmares about nuclear war. There’d be a bright flash, lots of wind and destruction and then we’d melt. Sometimes the nightmare included walking into a bright light holding hands with someone. It wasn’t until I married Earl that someone held my hand in this nightmare. I haven’t had this nightmare in a good many years because I kind of thought the era of a nuclear threat was behind us.
But here we are, with North Korea claiming they can hit the U.S. with a nuclear warhead and Trump pretty much goading them into with a series of “my button is bigger than your button” tweets.
A lot of this fear could be toned down if Twitter would just shut down Trump’s account. Actually, I think it would be best for the world if Twitter shut down entirely and I have occasionally advocated for their demise right on their platform. I sometimes wonder why I stick around on Twitter, after all, it’s not about crowdsourcing information as much as it’s about PR and getting your name, your brand and your ego out there. I can be absurdly snarky on Twitter. It’s not something I’m proud of. It just adds to the noise. I’m trying to calm down about that in 2018. I’ve probably made that statement before in previous years.
The thing is, I don’t have news organizations trumpeting out every idiotic statement I make on Twitter, but Trump’s tweets are out there front and center. His carelessness on the platform can change the National, heck INTERNATIONAL dialog in an instant. I don’t believe the powers that be at Twitter really know the power their platform wields.
I hope they don’t wait for a bright flash and a nuclear winter to convince them that they’re making a terrible mistake by not taking control of their platform. Heck, their CEO sees his duties at Twitter as a part time gig. He doesn’t even take the platform seriously.
Is this the instrument of war and peace we want in our volatile world today?
