This week the swelling pied piper of social media took on two foes.  In both cases, social media triumphed and the accused offenders were shamed into submission.  The first was Boomer Esiason.  Bengal Boomer made a comment that baseball player’s Daniel Murphy’s pregnant wife should have had a scheduled c-section prior to MLB’s opening day.  The second was Brendan Eich.  Eich was a brief two-week CEO of Mozilla because social media shamed him out of the job.  Around ten years ago, Eich contributed money to a California proposition that would ban same-sex marriage.  For this “crime” he received a tsunami of digital slander until the point came that he had no choice but to step down to escape. Though social media won in both instances…only in the first situation did social media succeed.  With Eich, social media failed.

With Boomer Esiason, Boomer tried to cast his outrageous, outdated, misogynistic views upon another person.  He tried to shame Daniel Murphy for being a pussy-whipped husband in an attempt to look more manly himself.  It back-fired.  In this case, social media played the perfect partner of checks and balances.  The interwebs slaughtered Boomer from all directions.  He got sacked faster than he did running a play action for the Bengals.  With Boomer, social media was the hero.

With Eich, social media ventured into a various dangerous territory.  I will start by saying I think gay marriage should be legal and if you don’t believe in gay marriage, don’t marry a gay person.  Though Eich may be on the wrong side of history, does that mean he shouldn’t have a right to function in society like everyone else?  Eich is not the only one who contributed to Prop 8.  I’m sure some of your neighbors, your friends and even your family members contributed.  Should Eich be publicly shamed for supported a cause he believes in?  Should everyone you know be publicly shamed?  What social media did wrong here is that it imposed its will upon an individual person.  Social media committed the wrong that Boomer Esiason was guilty of.

The problem with social media having this much power is the ease in which it can be manipulated.  From the incorrect suspects being identified in the case of the Boston bomber to the #cancelcolbert weekend trend, when social media snowballs in one direction, it is impossible to slow it down.  We need to be more diligent as a people to be more responsible with this power.  If we lose control of it because of our flippant negligence, then we’re in danger of being lost.  What happens next time when a different viewpoint is the majority or has the momentum…and the spot light gets turned on you?

The great thing about this country is that we get to believe in whatever we want.  And we get to express it, we get to voice it when we vote.  We shouldn’t be tied up to a tree and be forced to endure insults because our opinion was in the minority.  The point of voting is to maintain order.  If we lose sight of this, we become the bullies, that we stand up against.

Here are the 11 Best Songs By Manchester Orchestra:

1. Virgin (Simple Math)
2. Everything To Nothing (Mean Everything To Nothing)
3. Shake It Out (Mean Everything To Nothing)
4. Where Have You Been? (I’m Like A Virgin Losing A Child)
5. Simple Math (Simple Math)
6. Wolves At Night (I’m Like A Virgin Losing A Child)
7. I’ve Got Friends (Mean Everything To Nothing)
8. In My Teeth (Mean Everything To Nothing)
9. Pale Black Eyes (Simple Math)
10. I Was A Lid (Let My Pride Be What’s Left Behind)
11. Mighty (Simple Math)

Buy Manchester Orchestra’s new album, Cope…now!!!