Last week I read a recent article in the New York Times about how people’s lives can be destroyed by social media. It was a fascinating – and horrifying – article about how one woman’s tweet and one man’s whisper to a colleague at a conference ruined their lives. In junior high or high school – I don’t remember which but it was a long time ago – I read “Nineteen Eighty-Four” by George Orwell and got really freaked out by the idea that our world would become like that. But never could I have imagined how it would actually turn out – that “Big Brother” wouldn’t be the only one watching.
A Thoughtless Whisper
A thoughtless whisper
Becomes a worldwide trend
We’ve gone too far
We can’t go back again
Everyone’s a witness
With a camera in hand
Gathering evidence
Against their fellow man
Nineteen eighty-four
Has nothing on the 21st century
Contemporary war
With verbal, viral enemies
What was once a passing thought
Now lives on and travels far
Once it escapes into cyberspace
Hatred attacks and leaves its scar
What was once a private life
Can unravel with a few words
Global venom quickly spreads
Poisoning the universe
Nineteen eighty-four
Has nothing on the 21st century
Contemporary war
With verbal, viral enemies
Little brother’s always watching
Like paparazzi for the masses
Lying broken on the sidewalk
Is a pair of rose-colored glasses.
Update: I finally recorded this song (Oct. 4, 2015):
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