It never ceases to amaze me how some people in the world don’t use common sense. Or maybe just don’t have it. I have been writing for Affinity for a good amount of time now, and more times than I can count, I have seen readers misinterpret information presented to them.
Affinity tweets out links to articles, with a featured image and the headline of the piece. Sometimes the headlines are ironic — Why You Should Vote Trump — and other times they are serious — Dear White People, Plantations Should Not Be Romanticized Nor White-Washed — but quite frequently Twitter users get upset at the magazine for publishing certain pieces.
The catch is that they get it wrong. They don’t understand that an article is satirical or has a joking headline or the actual content of the article. Know why? Because they don’t read the full article; they sometimes don’t even click on the link to open it! People get triggered by seeing ‘Why You Should Vote Trump’ because they don’t actually read the article. If they did, they would have seen that, in fact, the author agrees with them that Trump isn’t fit to be president.
In a world and society where so much news is being posted so frequently, especially on social media, we cannot afford to have people not using common sense. We cannot afford to have people critique articles, but not actually read them.
This phenomenon — if we can even dignify it as such — goes far beyond just Affinity’s reach. It is happening with pretty much every reputable news organization in the world. The New York Times wrote a pretty good piece on how easily information can be twisted on social media, and I strongly urge everyone to read it (and not just the headline).
Furthermore, even if you don’t agree with what an article, or headline, says, I encourage you to read it anyway. Learning about beliefs different from yours and looking at the world through a different perspective can help strengthen your own beliefs and perspectives. Sometimes when people are surrounded by people who think the same as them — which isn’t necessarily always a bad thing — they get into a routine of only accepting things that align with their opinions. If you think this is something you do, or you know someone who is like this, try to read articles that don’t align with your perspective to become more aware.
In conclusion, if you see a comment that shows the person did not read the article, let them know and hopefully, eventually, they will understand to not judge a book by its cover (I hope that wasn’t too cheesy for you).
