Two days later, news orgs are still trying to figure out if there is a suspect in custody or not, trying to be the first to "report" the "news," trying to get more hits, more advertising, blah blah blah blah and the only tweet that seems worthy of any attention is one by Modern Seinfeld.
George tries to pick up a woman by claiming to be a cop that arrested a suspect in Boston case. CNN producer overhears it, runs it as fact.
— Modern Seinfeld (@SeinfeldToday) April 17, 2013
Can you imagine if Twitter and Facebook and Instagram existed on September 11th? I didn't understand the significance of the events at the time (was national tragedy already commonplace in 2001?), but I remember adults feeling shocked, too shocked to do anything but watch the news and shut the fuck up about their own opinions, save for keeping their children or students safe (I remember feeling skeptical about terrorists attacking Glenview, Il; so far, so good). Now, we immediately feel the need to share (for better or worse) instead of letting the experience unravel and allow us to absorb the entire significance of the situation.
As I write this, I'm growing cynical towards over-sharing. Not a great trait for a writer to have. For those that follow, you know I love tweeting about mostly meaningless opinions and meanderings, or posting diversions on Facebook. Perhaps it is the speculation that just bothers me. The lack of fact-checking. I have zero journalistic experience or background, but from the amount of music blogging I've done, it pains me to see so many other blogs repost PR emails when I went through the trouble to write something personal. Perhaps my cynicism isn't a bad thing and it's more of a despair over everyone elses lack of cynicism. Why the fuck can't you be more cynical? This is 2013, god damn it. Where have you been that you learned to trust everything you read?
...
Again, a step back, perspective. That's where this piece started. This was supposed to be about Boston. It is redundant to say that what happened there was a tragedy. It is inevitible that life will continue to throw these complications our way. So much is happening constantly all over the world, it's difficult to know where to divide our time and thoughts into. Family? Friends? Neighborhood? Zip code? City, state, country, continent, hemisphere...where do we draw the line on who we care about?
I'm not saying I don't care about the events that have happened in Boston; I'm glad all my family, friends, and acquaintances out there are safe and sound, that people have banded together to help those who need it, to donate blood, to give time, to be courageous; I can't imagine what I would feel if something like this happened at the Chicago Marathon. Certainly I would feel more attached to the situation and perhaps that's what I'm feeling now: guilt about lack of attachment. And the tirade against over-sharing may have just been a projection of my cynicism which may be the real problem, since I turned a post on a national tragedy into a post about myself and god damn it, I'm doing it again.
As I'm about to post this, another piece about a bombing suspect has been redacted. Perhaps my cynicism has its place after all?
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