What am I talking about, you ask? Let me define what a "Keyboard Kommando" is, and I think you'll see where I'm going from there. A Keyboard Kommando is a "netizen" who thinks it's perfectly OK to sit in the safety of their own home, behind the relative anonymity of a computer keyboard, and say the most outrageous of things. That's a Keyboard Kommando.
Now...please do NOT get me wrong...those of you that know me, know that I am a VERY strong proponent of "speaking your mind" and not necessarily pulling any punches when you do so. I am not only a "student" of the First Amendment of our Constitution...I am a fervent practitioner. That is NOT being a Keyboard Kommando, in my opinion. When you fervently believe what you are saying, and do so in a respectful manner, you are expressing your opinion, and I am beyond fine with that.
However...the Keyboard Kommando is a completely different beast from that. These are the people who say things that:
- They would never in a million years say publicly
- In the rudest possible manner they can come up with to say it
- All the while not even necessarily BELIEVING the crap that is falling from their own mouths (or fingers, in this case)
- They invariably fall back on their "right" to "free speech" whenever someone calls them on said crap
- And to "cap off" how disgusting the practice is, completely oblivious to the stench of the crap as it falls from said fingers.
WARNING: prepare to be shocked, disgusted, dismayed, and generally despair for humanity reading some of these:
Public Shaming
See what I mean?
Try, just for a moment, to imagine being at a cocktail party and someone spewing this filth for everyone to hear. Hard to conceive isn't it? Because they WOULDN'T!!! Not without fearing someone absolutely knocking the living crap out of them for doing so!
What has caused this? And, more importantly, why is it just becoming more and more rampant? And most importantly, what can we do to reverse this trend, if anything? I'll try to tackle these questions in the remainder of this post...and look forward to your input as readers too, so please feel free to add your thoughts to the comments section here after you've finished reading my thoughts. I love putting my thoughts to "paper"...but I love more seeing your responses!
Cause and Increasing Prevalence
Just as with any other sociological issue, there is no one "cause". It's a complex mix of things, so I think I'm just going to do a sort of "laundry list" of what I think some of the causes might be, and let you decide from there.
- It's "safe"...or so they think. Relatively speaking, from behind a keyboard, in the comfort and safety of your own home, you can pretty much say anything and everything you want and "get away" with doing so. (Hence the term, "Keyboard Kommando"). Sure, you hear of the occasional person getting fired from their job...but most people have at least a subconcious belief that "ahh that won't happen to me...it only happens to idiots". Certainly, no one is going to come busting into their living rooms and give them a thorough beating for their crass heartlessness. (Although it would not surprise me to eventually read a news story on just such a thing happening.)
- We currently have a "public culture"...pioneered by the "shock jock" radio (bowel) "movement" that actually glorifies saying ridiculous things.
- We have a LONG standing love affair with our First Amendment right to freedom of speech, and in the last several years this "right" has become to be interpreted by many to think that they can say whatever they want whenever they want without repercussion
- Largely speaking, there are no real repercussions for saying such things. (I am glad to see that 2 girls were charged for making death threats via social media to the victim in the Steubenville rape case, but that's the exception, not the norm.) Look at all the posts on that website that are direct threats to the President of the United States, talking about assassinating him, and ask yourself the question: Why aren't the Secret Service knocking on these people's doors? They should be!
- In relation to my last bullet point...no one takes these sorts of posts "seriously". It's just "venting" or "blowing steam". This makes it more "acceptable".
- Generally speaking, I think parents in society as a whole are less mindful of teaching children the concept of speaking your mind while at the same time remaining respectful of others as you do so. And I think all of the prior bullet points I've listed are contributing factors as to why this is...with the "right to free speech" as the bedrock for allowing such crassness. Our culture celebrates the out-spoken...always has...and in general that is a good thing. The missing element in recent times is that key element of being respectful toward others as you are being out-spoken. Those of us are older, know full well that it is quite possible to do both. Our younger generations, for a variety of reasons, are either not being taught this lesson, or are simply not learning what they are being taught. I rather think it's the former of the two, but even if they are being taught, I think the poor examples I have listed here that they are seeing in society at large are over-riding what the parents are trying to teach.
- We are increasingly a society that does not have the respect for ourselves that we should have. We preach a good game...but we go about it in a lot of the wrong ways. I personally think that even the "it's our First Amendment right" is an attempt to teach self respect: "You should respect yourself enough to be able to speak your mind how and when you wish." But it's being taught the wrong way. We keep forgetting the age-old adage that "respect is a two-way street". And our kids are not catching that message. People, especially in early stages of maturity, are egocentric. They're going to assume that they deserve respect, and ignore that other human beings do as well. We need to change that.
Reversing the Trend
This is where it becomes even more tricky than enumerating the causes. The causes are becoming firmly entrenched in our society, and as we all know, entrenched attitudes...and mores in particular...are difficult to shed once entrenched. Let's give it a shot together though, shall we?
- Without doubt, I think the #1 thing we can do as thinking, caring, and respectful people is to call the ones who aren't all those things out on the carpet for their horrible behavior. Silence, in my book, is tacit approval. Only when we turn people into pariahs for these actions will anything change.
- Stop using the First Amendment as your excuse for being rude. On a personal level. If you don't do this, it obviously does not apply to you. But I think that pretty much all of us, at one time or another (and yes, I include myself in that group) have done so. Commit to never doing it again.
- Call out "celebrities" when they pull this crap. A friend of mine made a post earlier today about a comment Wendy Williams made on her show about Lindsay Lohan "getting away with it because she's white". While I think there's a lot of reasons why Lindsay gets away with her misbehaviour, I think the color of her skin is, at the very least, very far down that list. IF that were the reason for it, I think there's nothing wrong with pointing it out. But this is one of those cases where people are just saying outrageous garbage to hear themselves talk and garner attention. Those need to stop, and they need to be called out when they are made. Apparently, they even went so far as to delete every comment on their website that made any mention of the "it's racist" comment from Wendy. So...she knows what she said was wrong...make her pay for it by ostracizing her for doing so. Don't let her and others get away with it.
- At the top of this list of pariahs should be every "shock jock" of every ilk...whether ultra-right wing or ultra-left or anywhere in the middle. They can make their point without all the hatred and bile-spewing. I have hated this "genre" of communication from its inception, and can say with solid confidence that I saw almost all of what we are seeing as repercussions...the general hatefulness from it slowly permeating and poisoning our society as a whole. So much so that the up-and-coming prevalence of this genre, at the time, was instrumental in my leaving the industry when I did. (It wasn't the only reason, but it was definitely #1 on the list, even if I wasn't fully aware of that myself at the time.)
- Next on the list is all of the "reality" shows (another genre of communication/entertainment that I have despised from inception) that glorify confrontation. I know, I know...that's pretty much all of them. But I promise you...this is where our children are getting their worst examples of this. If you're going to watch these shows yourselves (for whatever reason), then at least do your children the favor of not watching them when they are around to be influenced by their glorification of all things rude. DVR it...watch it online after they go to bed...whatever. And forbid them to watch it on their own until they are old enough to understand that even though they're called "reality" shows...they are the furthest away from an example of how people in society should behave!!!
- Teach your children well. Not just by telling them to be respectful, either. Show that respectfulness in your daily lives. As we all know, or should by now, the best way to teach, especially our young, is through example.
- Calling bad behavior out in others when you see it along with your child is key in that education of our children as well. If you're sitting there watching a TV program or you overhear a conversation along with your child...make a "teachable moment" of it...discuss with them why it's wrong...and why they should never do so themselves.
One more thing: Yes...the three "K's" in my title were intentional.....because the bile-spewing I see from Keyboard Kommandos, in my mind, is akin to the bile-spewing of a certain group that also uses those initials. The topic may be different, but the hatred remains the same...
