We’re missing the point by Cormac Larkin
We’re missing the point.
So there’s this new thing all over Facebook called “neknominations.” For the uninitiated, it’s where someone drinks a pint of alcohol (a variation being a disgusting concoction of God knows what) and sometimes performs a stunt while doing so. It’s childish and asinine, but the media are quick to blame “the Irish attitude to alcohol” and the government are quick to remind us about the upcoming minimum unit pricing system for alcohol.
We must realise that this phenomenon is not the real problem, it is but a symptom.
The real problem here is social media. People these days are valued by the numbers of likes and shares they get on Facebook, retweets on Twitter, reposts on Instagram. The “like” button has become modern society’s universal arbiter, telling us how good we are based on how many others click it. People are only doing these “neknominations” for attention, and it’s not the first time this type of idiocy has manifested itself through media like Facebook.
Does anyone remember planking? It was where someone would prostrate themself somewhere dangerous or significant. Of course some people got hurt and one man died after falling from a seventh floor balcony. Thankfully, this fad has since petered out and neknominating will soon follow the same course, but that’s not the point here.
The point is that social networking sites are allowing these stupid stunts to continue by giving an avenue for people to broadcast their actions in the hope of gaining their fifteen seconds of fame. Until we realise that the websites rather than the alcohol is the real issue here, nothing will change. I’m not even going to get into cyberbullying or how teenage suicide rates are skyrocketing since these issues have already been recognised and action is being taken.
We really need to think about radical action about how to tackle the real issue here: Facebook and other social media.
We are missing the point by talking about alcohol: this is only a small part of a much wider challenge and short of blocking Facebook in Ireland or some other form of drastic action this challenge isn’t going away any time soon.