I’m amazed and disgusted by the power of social media. It can be a vast land of ruthless attackers with very, very little accountability to the point of destroying someone’s credibility without hardly any repercussion to the accusers.
Here’s the story – a friend had practiced medicine for years, worked hard to get himself through school, took some help of his parents to help pay his medical school bills but still went deeply into debt to pursue his passion, and when he finally began practicing medicine, I could see the joy on his face. He was doing what he felt he was put on earth to do.
Then came an accusation through social media. No background to it, no story to it, only that he had an inappropriate relationship with a patient. This doctor is a popular man around here, and the story – this entirely unproven story – began spreading like wildfire through the social media. No one bothered to question it because questioning it would go against the massive current of angry people who were piling on to debase and humiliate my friend. Again, all entirely unproven. Once the wound was opened, people were lining up to pour salt in. Even his medical partners told him they needed to distance themselves because of his now toxic reputation.
We are a society today eager to express outrage, eager to be outraged, not check for the truth, not take a deep breath and count to ten, but to fan the flames of accusations until it is a raging inferno. I’m certain most of my friend’s accusers online had never met him, never heard of him, had no idea who he was, but they eagerly jumped into the fray with outrage.
This is what politics has become by the way. Can a politician anywhere in our nation today get elected without being outraged by something? None of them will admit this, but every one of their campaign platforms is based simply one thing: outrage. That’s their ticket to getting elected. They figure out what is bothering people, and they take it to another level – to outrage. People are bothered by immigration, so the politicians become outraged by immigration. People are bothered by taxes, so politicians become outraged by taxes. It’s in their words and their voices, and it’s the only way most of these unemployable people can get a job is as an outraged politician, and the only way they can get reelected is to continue being an outraged politician.
Anyway, my good doctor friend was given no chance to defend himself. It was never proven. He lost his medical practice due to a social media accusation of an inappropriate relationship with a patient. It’s a shame. Because he was a great veterinarian. . .
I’m Cam Marston, and I’m just trying to Keep it Real.
