Recently I was present at a defence of a thesis paper, where the author claimed that the internet, and generally all social networks particularly contribute to the establishment of tolerance atmosphere between nations, social groups, and people in general. To be honest, I do not have a theoretical background about that issue, but my impression is exactly the opposite: the internet contributes to people’s estrangement, to strain of their relations, at least, if not to enmity.
For example, Azerbaijanian users almost exclusively write insults addressed to Armenians and Armenia in the Russian section of our site. I assume Armenian users do the same in Azerbaijanian sites. So, what? Does it contribute to the establishment of communication and mutual understanding between the two nations? Have you seen tolerant posts on this theme, for example, in Facebook?
The same is true in other areas. Is there a web platform where Armenian users are engaged in a constructive dialogue about Armenian foreign policy orientation? I have not seen anything like this. Instead, I notice that in one hand they call each other “gayropeans” and “liberasts”, on the other hand “russists” and “russulmans”. Do such “conversations” raise the level of tolerance in society. I highly doubt. But if the holders of both attitudes meet at a conference, or even at a television debate, they will be much more tolerant and respectful towards each other. Does not it mean that the internet itself is fuelling antagonism between people?
Or let us consider the case of “Sasna Tsrer”. If you write that attacking the police and killing a man is not a good policy, confirmed revolutionaries will accuse you of executing commands of authorities. But there are also confirmed anti-revolutionaries who suggest “killing the terrorists” without a trial. Do the supporters of these two attitudes tolerate each other?
Moreover, any appeal for tolerance you make faces a violent resistance, and sometime the two sides share the same opinion about your appeals: “he keeps changing his mind”, “good and evil can’t be put on the same plane”. Whatever you say, social networks make people not only more intolerant, but also more primitive and limited.
Aram ABRAHAMYAN
