The biggest problem we have on this earth is radical people who are willing to disregard human life in favor of their own beliefs. Whether it's a suicide bomber, or a deranged college student, these people take innocent lives every day.
Terrorists are the biggest example of these kinds of people. Their main goal is terrorizing innocent people who do not share their beliefs. I do not wish to get into my thoughts on the current Israeli conflict with Gaza, but I want to be clear that hiding terroristic weapons and supplies in civilian homes, schools, and hospitals is most certainly a radical thing to do.
As terrorism has evolved, so has the Internet. We receive the news of battles and invasions moments after they occur, and instantly begin giving our take on the situation on social media. On one side, it allows likeminded people to bond over their beliefs, and to grieve defeat or celebrate triumph with one another. On another much darker side, the radicals show up on social in large numbers. At the end of the day, Twitter is just a gigantic online chat room, and by logging on and reading about all the atrocities out there, we fall into a trap just like those thirteen year olds talking to online predators. While many are simply posting their beliefs, a vast majority are probably smiling ear to ear at how distraught others are getting at their posts.
People need to stop posting and, more importantly, stop reading what the opposition is saying on social media. Do you think that LeBron James reads those hundreds of death threats a day that people are posting a bout him? No, because it would infuriate him. And that is exactly what we are letting radical people do. I have looked up the #IStandWith (either Gaza or Israel) posts on Twitter and what I saw was horrific. It made me think like a radical. The ridiculous things being posted from behind a computer screen infuriated me to the point where I started hating everyone that did not share my belief. And that is where the problem starts. Much like the problem we have with strict allegiance to a particular political party in our country, always disregarding anything anyone from the opposite party says, the Internet is doing the same for international conflict.
People, including myself, need to stay away from social media in times like these. When we read the radical views of ignorant people all over the world, it makes it a lot more difficult to make peace.