The 2 weeks of “blessed” days of staying out of internet are over. I switched on my computer on September 1 and the wind of Armenian Facebook blew on me…
During the holidays, fortunately, I succeeded to read books. It is not important what, even not talented works. I feel how the books make me more complicated, richer, more interesting, contrary to Facebook and internet posts overall, which just the opposite – make me more simple and poorer. Why is it so? Maybe the reason is the following: a person who decides to write a book or an article for a newspaper, regardless of the level of intellect and talent, feels him/herself more gathered and responsible. S/he is One, a Person, Author who transmits her/his thoughts to 10, 100, 1000 people. We are a particle of a billion of mass on Facebook, we do not have any high responsibility. From this probably comes the gossip-dilettante style, which prevails on the internet (on Armenian, at least) – thoughts which are born from prejudices, stereotypes formed for dozens of years, low-level mythology, fantastic news based on them, “offendedness”, paranoia, dark instincts, the desire to bite or sting someone.
On the nerves of some Aravot.am readers gets every line I write. In the case of a book or a newspaper, the solution is plain: not to read the texts which make you angry and include illiterate nonsense or the appraisal of the authorities, not to spend time and nerves on those texts. If it was a book or a newspaper, people naturally would do that way, the book can be put aside, put back on the bookcase and forgotten about. I do not know a case when the reader approaches to a bookstand, sees the book s/he dislikes and hisses to the address of the author by pressing teeth: “Oh, you, a rogue!”
The internet is something else, it is a drug where you get used to both pleasant and unpleasant feelings to you, which are difficult to refuse. It is a space where you are used to doing easy, ungrounded but burning judgments. As always, the time and experience give the solution of these all, which is sometimes called media literacy. Throughout the time we learn to use the positive and huge advantages given by the internet and to sieve the not important, the superficial, the random. And the most important – one should read more books and newspapers.
ARAM ABRAHAMYAN
