When history is not enough

        I believe history will not be the same after the Internet. The Internet is a wall of documents and events, without control (??) or frontiers, and it is open to anyone, anywhere, who has electricity and access to a computer or a mobile phone. In general, governments no longer have complete control over it, and this power is available and controlled by a bunch of nobodies who can destroy reputations and spread half-truths.
       Everyone may speculate about political or social events that happened in the last century and beyond – times before the digital world. Afterwards, these events were digitised and kept in places where interests are more important than truth. Yet those who have experienced and kept events from the past in their memories can resist data manipulation and attempts to rewrite history in order to serve ideological or commercial interests.
      On the other hand, some people who have been living witnesses to history have tried to rewrite their role in events and hide compromising facts. The question is whether we should rely on them or not.
        Some people supported repressive governments, of course, and hid themselves behind half-truths spread within societies. At the same time, others expressed their disagreement.
        Selfie obsession is a gun pointed at oneself. When a photo is posted on the web in defence of something absurd, it can become its own judge: “We know what you did in the past.”
        History will never be the same, and it can turn into stories or fake news. Many people who were captured in photos posted on the web will not be able to say to their children, friends, and others that they are exempt from responsibility for the facts. Therefore, selfies will become, in the future, rather in the present, passports to ostracism. They may become evidence rather than excuses because, against facts, there are no arguments. It is not enough to try to remove names and addresses from the web and rewrite history because photos and videos will reveal the truth
         Children, grandchildren, and friends may ask about the meaning of those events and why people and their friends supported them. They may say that were things they did in their youth, but many of them were already mature adults. At the end of the Nazi regime, many people said that they had disapproved of it, and they claimed that its followers had disappeared.
       What could these followers say when faced with questions such as: Were you a con man? Why did you carry a sign supporting them during the demonstrations? Were there no other causes to support?
          Many explanations can be given, or there may be silence and shame. The garbage of history could overflow.
          History will respond, based on facts, to what we did in the past and to what we will leave our children and grandchildren in the future.

Photo from: Foto de Giammarco Boscaro na Unsplash
SUBSCRIBE FOR NEW POSTS
#DigitalHistory #InternetAndTruth #DigitalFootprint #RewritingHistory #FakeNewsVsFacts #SelfiesAndAccountability #HistoricalMemory

Views: 1