Standing 'sentinel' on social media won't fix Ukraine
"There was an early day where [immersion on Twitter] was very, very pleasurable," author Patricia Lockwood mused in a New Yorker interview last month. Particularly when political engagement spiked during the Trump administration, she continued, "you felt that you had to be on there every day — like, 8 a.m., at your post — otherwise, you couldn't control what was going to happen that day. If you didn't know about it, then it would go on without you, beyond your control." The feeling you had, Lockwood suggested, was that of "standing sentinel," keeping an eye on the world, keeping it safe somehow, from your little digital watchtower.
In his newsletter, tech ethicist L.M. Sacasas explores that final phrase further:
Sacasas wrote just as Russia's invasion of Ukraine began, but his warning against grasping for control via information accumulation seems all the more important several weeks hence. Self-appointed sentinels are standing up all over, wanting very sincerely to help Ukraine, to do their bit. But the rightness of that sympathy doesn't make it any less powerless in the average social media user — and, meanwhile, another hazard is at hand: This is an information war.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
So is every modern war, in some sense, but a confluence of factors here — the scale of the Russian propaganda machine, the war's European theater and the attention that draws, the sheer prevalence of smartphones and social media access among the people involved — makes for an unprecedented situation. The Ukrainian government, too, is not above mythmaking, nor is Western social media a neutral power. This feels like a new level of informational chaos.
Standing sentinel is never safe, and, when your watchtower is Twitter (or Instagram, Facebook, Telegraph, whatever), it is rarely worthwhile. But whatever benefits your post may have in more ordinary times — if indeed there is such a thing anymore — they are less obtainable right now, and whatever the costs, they are greater. Control isn't coming. Even clarity is probably too much to expect.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Bonnie Kristian was a deputy editor and acting editor-in-chief of TheWeek.com. She is a columnist at Christianity Today and author of Untrustworthy: The Knowledge Crisis Breaking Our Brains, Polluting Our Politics, and Corrupting Christian Community (forthcoming 2022) and A Flexible Faith: Rethinking What It Means to Follow Jesus Today (2018). Her writing has also appeared at Time Magazine, CNN, USA Today, Newsweek, the Los Angeles Times, and The American Conservative, among other outlets.
-
Is the next cold war a drone-swarm race between US and China?
Today's Big Question Both global superpowers are building up their capacity for surging robotic warfare. What happens next is anyone's guess.
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Crossword: April 17, 2024
The Week's daily crossword
By The Week Staff Published
-
Sudoku hard: April 17, 2024
The Week's daily hard sudoku puzzle
By The Week Staff Published
-
'Are We Dating the Same Guy?': do Facebook groups harm or help?
Talking Point Women share their relationship experiences to try to stay safe on dating apps but critics highlight legal and emotional issues
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Has True Detective gone full horror?
Talking Point The first season had supernatural undertones, but Night Country director Issa López has taken it to another level
By Ellie O'Mahoney, The Week UK Published
-
EV market slowdown: a bump in the road for Tesla?
Talking Point The electric vehicle market has stalled – with worrying consequences for carmakers
By The Week UK Published
-
Will Elizabeth Gilbert's decision set a 'dangerous precedent' for book censorship?
Talking Point Her latest novel sparked backlash after she revealed it would be set in Russia.
By Theara Coleman Published
-
Elizabeth Gilbert and the debate over cancelling Russian culture
Talking Point Decision to delay publication of novel set in 20th-century Siberia sparks intense debate
By Arion McNicoll Published
-
The most eccentric Eurovision performances of all time
In Depth From a turkey DJ to misfiring double entendres, the contest has never lacked for oddity
By Chas Newkey-Burden Published
-
Star Wars legend Mark Hamill lends voice to Ukrainian air raid app
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
Ukraine's Zelensky tells David Letterman a Russia joke during Kyiv subway interview
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published