I like to surf the web in the morning. It’s just a thing I do. I like to know what’s going on politically, in sports, in the LGBTQ world, with my friends on Facebook and Twitter.
I’ve noticed a trend recently. And this isn’t a new phenomenon by any stretch; it’s just I’m noticing it more now.
So much outrage!
I’ve been part of it. Many days I’ve shouted out on social media about some horrible injustice that I’ve read about and want to share with my friends.
Read that sentence again. Think about that for a minute.
Ellen Degeneres has an old routine she does called “Taste This.”
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mBB9JftW7dY&w=420&h=315]
This is what I’m saying to my friends when I do this: you need to be angry about this! This is terrible. Look at it!
And people do look, and they do get angry. How do I know? Because if the numbers weren’t there, the blogs and news sites wouldn’t keep serving it.
That’s basically the truth of our world today, especially our world on the Internet. And in the media in general. People want to see horrible stuff. Or at least that’s what we’ve come to want.
I went to one of the LGBT sites I go to most days this morning. This is what was on it:
-A story about how Fox News claimed an anti-gay hate group is a “well-respected Christian ministry.”
-A story about whatever garbage Rick Santorum is saying today.
-A story about a Christian group suing the London Transit Authority for having pro-gay ads.
There were a couple other stories, sure. But the vast majority of it was basically, “Look how many awful people hate us!”
And don’t even look at the comments. Outrage at Christians. Outrage at gays who are too sensitive. Outrage at gays who aren’t sensitive enough. Everybody is furious. I get it; I’m furious too when I read stuff like this.
I have coined a new term for this: Anger Porn.
I felt it this morning. How my blood pressure spiked as I read these things. I don’t want to read these things anymore. Not that I want to stick my head in the sand and not know what’s going on, but why do I care what Michelle Bachmann thinks of gay people? I already know. Why do I care if Pat Robertson has said something infuriating about whatever natural disaster has been caused by gay marriage? I get it. He’s an idiot and he hates us.
I want to live in a world where we focus less on what’s wrong with the world (hint: a lot) and more on what’s right (hint: also a lot). And moreover, I want to stop rubbernecking at Anger Porn. Because it’s me. I’m the problem. I’m reading those stories, giving those sites big numbers, thereby telling those who run them to continue to publish more outrageous stuff about hate.