SOCIAL media has become a pervasive influence in shaping people’s minds — sometimes for the better, but more oftentimes for the worse. We see infinite numbers of videos, write-ups and short messages posted on social media platforms. They trigger a wide range of emotions in us, from hope and joy to anger, fury and resentment. Social media creates our own realities, as we consume content that confirms our beliefs and biases. Yet social media also warps our senses and can override our rational thinking. And mob mentality is one of its most adverse effects. This phenomenon sweeps people around the world into a wave of emotions, often making them cross the line of common decency and goodwill.
In a social media-induced mob mentality, people quickly condemn others based on a short, spliced and edited video. Harsh comments are bombarded across shared posts against the government, school or famous personality, even when the evidence has not been fully presented and examined. Worse, many of these social media commentators, who are educated and articulate, instigate the lies, often riding the crest of mob mentality for clout and influence. They judge events and individuals on the surface without any in-depth investigation.
Mob mentality has existed for eons now, where individuals are swept by the energy of the crowd and eventually carry out foolish, destructive and criminal acts. In Rome, the patriarchs had always feared the fury of the mob. In our modern era, this tendency has been heightened by the speed, scale and reach of social media. In recent events, the spread of viral news about the deaths of two UAAP players have sparked intense debate, with people amplifying their own angst and frustrations on issues such as social status, inequity and personal grievances. This incident riled up many Filipinos, especially in Mindanao, who associated the deaths of these student-athletes with the elitism and indifference of Imperial Manila.
Yet mob mentality thrives in environments where abject poverty, poor education and low critical thinking persist. The rise of extremist political movements has been attributed to mob mentality, as people join dominant groups in discriminating and oppressing minorities, such as migrants. During the fuel surges brought about by the Middle East conflict, mob mentality was demonstrated when many people panicked and hoarded fuel supplies, aggravating the shortages and driving fuel prices higher. Even today, political supporters of well-known leaders refuse to recognize the truth even if clear and convincing evidence could have disproved their collective beliefs.
Our own national leaders in government, businesses, education and civil society groups must work together in pacifying rather than fueling people's emotions, which results in a mob mentality in social media. True leaders are responsible for communicating accurate information instead of further agitating the public with disinformation and blaming others for their fate. Moreover, our military and police forces must investigate and respond to those who seek to destabilize and destroy national harmony and cohesion through social media.
Mob mentality flourishes because decent and rational-minded Filipinos choose silence and indifference over resoluteness and citizenship. They refuse to hold social media rabble-rousers accountable for their lies and disarray, which only further sow confusion and division to our fractured state of affairs. If we choose to withhold our rational judgment due to fear or to appease the gallery in social media, then we surrender our critical thinking and submit to the tyranny of this misguided minority. In the end, we lose the soul of this nation to the noise of an angry mob drugged-up by social media and the frenzy of maleficent voices.
Those who know better must now put their foot down and shout, “Enough!”
