Flip through the latest issue of Gulf Weekly.
Scrolling through my Facebook newsfeed the other day I was bombarded by posts related to recent political developments. Brexit, the tragic attacks at Istanbul Ataturk Airport and US gun laws all found their way onto Facebook, through some platform or another.
Of course, news agencies continued to post frequent updates and analytical articles concerning the aforementioned subjects.
What was more interesting was the number of more ‘light-hearted’ Facebook pages, obviously targeting the young, posting about these events through satire, ironic memes or even personal recounts of victims.
As well as that, a considerable number of my Facebook friends also got engaged in this political commentary. While some merely ‘liked’ related posts, many took the time to provide their own opinions regarding the subjects.
It was on these shared or self-penned posts that other friends chose to engage in debate.
Numerous posts attracted long arguments regarding these major events.
I saw quite a heated argument between two British students living in Bahrain, one who was in favour of Brexit and one who preferred integration with the EU.
Another ‘comment war’ that stands out to me is between two younger students over gun laws in the US in the aftermath of the Orlando attack.
The term ‘social justice warrior’ has often been used in a pejorative tone towards members of the youth who choose to engage in social commentary, through social media.
Teenagers who choose to voice their, sometimes controversial, opinions through platforms like Facebook often receive flak for their involvement.
It is quite disconcerting to see teenagers forced into silence by peer pressure, but more often than not, by mocking adults.
After all this is the ‘Kardashian-obsessed’ generation. We obviously are clueless when it comes to matters outside of what filter to use when posting pictures on Instagram.
Young people getting involved in politics, having an opinion and voicing it is exactly what we need.
How can there be progression if the ones supposed to lead society forward are constantly held back and ridiculed?
