Guest post by Judiang: OPEN LETTER TO RICHARD ARMITAGE

[Judiang is having blog problems, so I offered her the space to post her reaction to yesterday’s Cybersmile piece by Richard Armitage here.]

Dear Mr. Armitage,

I’ve been pondering for days how to reply. Now that you’ve blogged, they say you’re awaiting feedback.  Thought I would be my usual snarky self, but was afraid you might misunderstand; so I’ll be blunt and very specific with my words as you charged.

You’ve spoken too soon.

Don’t get me wrong. I applaud you for wanting to break out of your shell and champion a worthy cause like cyberbullying and I empathize with your experiences growing up. But taking on an ambassadorship makes you a spokesman against cyberbullying, and that implies a deeper knowledge about the subject. It implies savvy about social media dynamics – and since you knew fans would read it also – at least some passing understanding of your own fandom. Unfortunately, your words weren’t specific as those you warned we should use. In fact, you were rather vague.

As an ambassador, you had a ripe opportunity to define “cyberbullying” for us. While that might mean different things to different people, I’m sure CyberSmile has a notion and you as a spokesman should too. Where does criticism end and bullying begin? Is it like obscenity – you can’t describe it but know when you see it? Twice you passed up a chance to clarify a crucial point. Did you consider this?

Then there was the confusion over exactly what group you were addressing. Were you talking to teens? If  so, do you think advising them “to tell [the bullies] to stop,” and in contradiction, “ignore them” is really helpful to those being hounded on Facebook and other media to the point of despair and/or suicide helpful? Don’t you think your answer was a bit oversimplified for such a serious issue? Or were you talking to fans troubled by trolls? Were you still addressing teens on the blog when you brought up questions from fans on your timeline? If you wanted to address your fans, you need to talk to us pointedly, and not use CyberSmile to do it. Did you consider this?

Which brings us to pseudonyms. Many people use them, not to hurt others but for privacy and to protect themselves from stalkers, etc. — from people who really mean to do harm. You as a celebrity have more power than those of us who need the protection. You can afford to be RA. We can’t.

By the way, some fans have shed their pseudonyms based on what you said, thus opening themselves to risk. What were you saying about being careful with words? Did you consider this?

Let’s leave Catfish (a film rumored to be a hoax) that you considered to be a microcosm of social media aside for now. Everything in social media isn’t bad or good; it takes time to discover which is which – much longer than the 10 months you’ve been on Twitter. Actually, I wouldn’t expect you to be particularly savvy right now, but please know that if Catfish is how you see social media, you don’t have the full picture. Have you considered this?

Then there’s your advice to pour negativity into art. Who were you talking to? I can’t imagine that this will resonate with either teen bullies or bullied teens. My nieces tell me that rushing to the debate club or painting a picture won’t help the immediate problem. Things have changed since your adolescence.  And what about writing as art? People have channeled their negativity into words since written word began. So again, when does criticism end and bullying begin? Have you considered this?

I keep asking because my impression is that you haven’t. You need to ask yourself harder questions. Your statements, while well intentioned,  seem vague, muddled, and lacking of a keen understanding of social media or cyberbullying. Idealism is fine, but you can’t hope to sway minds without the power of knowledge and experience in your words.

Your fan,

Judiang

~ by Servetus on June 12, 2015.