The Age of Unfiltered Opinions

“I am entitled to an opinion.” 

The justification—or excuse—of netizens for all the inanities they litter on social media. This line has often been the default response of queens, princes, and paupers; of the ordinary man on the street and the practicing litigator; of the all-knowing Boomers and the equally all-knowing Millennials—all of whom have tossed around viewpoints online that make one wonder why some are blessed with sensibility and sense, while others peddle absurdity and air. 

Not everyone, though, deserves to post an opinion. It is not an inalienable, absolute right automatically granted to anyone with access to the internet. Rather, it is a privilege that people should earn each time they log in online. Social media, however, has emboldened even those incapable of basic argumentative processes that they act as if the world wants to hear their opinion on every issue that appears on their feed. 

Here are some lessons I’d like to share, drawn from managing social media pages, my close encounters with online undesirables, and plain, simple common sense. 

Understand before you opine.

The baseline for having an opinion is knowing the facts and context of the issue first. If you don’t know them yet, make the effort to do your due diligence. Research. Ask around. Verify, and verify again—especially if you’re easily swayed by fake narratives spread by troll armies or clout-chasers who hype controversies just to attach their names to them for the next big payday, since the next election season is still two years away. It will not make you less of a man or a woman to read up and gain a better understanding of the issue. Only by doing so can you arrive at an informed opinion. An informed opinion is the only valid opinion. 

Read before you react.

A lot of netizens like replying to a headline without reading past the first line. I recently put up a throwback post of an Alex Eala victory on the International Tennis Federation (ITF) tour from a year ago. The caption was pretty clear: a year ago, Eala lost to a Croatian. On the same date this year, she beat a Croatian in the WTA ASB Classic in Auckland. Then came a deluge of cries of “fake news!!!” because, according to the more than 20 who reacted, Eala had won her match. “Clickbait,” they commented in indignation, insisting it was not true that Eala lost—all because they did not bother to read the caption, which would have taken less time than typing and posting a comment. 

Do not confuse seniority with correctness.

You know a discussion has become a futile exercise when someone writes, “Papunta ka pa lang. Pabalik na ako.” Some brandish their age and seniority as if these give them a monopoly on bright ideas. Experience matters, true, and it supposedly helps one gain a broader perspective. But the test of an insight’s cogency is how well it is grounded in facts and sound reasoning, not the age of the person offering the opinion. You win people over based on merit, not antiquity. 

Accept that not all opinions deserve equal weight.

Almost everyone has come across a senseless comment online and thought, “That was totally inane.” The usual defense comes quickly: “That is my opinion, and you have to respect it.” Sure, but opinions should be fair game for rebuttal when they fail to make sense. As bad as an uninformed opinion is one that lacks critical thinking and violates all the tenets of logical reasoning. For example: just because someone likes Cup of Joe more does not mean she hates Rico Blanco. That’s a false assumption of mutual exclusivity—she can like both.  Or this familiar warning: “Do not antagonize China, or else we’ll have to wage war against them.” That’s a false dichotomy. Engagement does not automatically lead to armed conflict; there are other ways to deal with the issue. The same faulty reasoning appears in sports discourse. “You want Pinoy fans to be quiet during Alex Eala’s matches?” That’s often twisted into “Might as well tell Filipinos to stop supporting her.” In reality, the issue is simple: be quiet during rallies and when Eala’s opponent is serving. Between points, fans can be as loud as they want. Sound familiar? These are the kinds of comments you see every day on social media.  

Keep the discourse above the belt. 

Imagine seeing a comment from someone who looks like your second-year high school Science teacher, mocking him for his opinion and saying, “Iyakin ka pala,” only to realize that the person indeed is your second-year high school Science teacher. Some not only impose their own beliefs on social media but advance them with an accompanying taunt or ad hominem attack. It is easy to be like Kevin Garnett and act fake tough if you are hiding behind a computer. No matter how many degrees you have earned, you can still be mocked and called “stupid” by someone who is incapable of constructing a simple sentence, even in the vernacular. No number of degrees entitles you to look down on others and call them names. Social media has become the great equalizer, where anyone can insult just about anyone. The problem is that no opinions get properly scrutinized or appreciated because the focus immediately shifts to who can type bigger, meaner, and more hurtful invectives.  

Exercise the right to stay silent.

We have transformed into a society that always seeks an angle, tumbling and drying the mundane until it reveals a speck of imperfection that can be construed as abhorrent—or at the very least, contrarian. Most people nowadays genuinely believe they must have an opinion on everything, rarely leaving any aspect of daily life in quiet peace without nitpicking every tiny detail to pass judgment on. The universe does not require us to react to or take offense at everything we read online—especially if, first, we did not make the effort to appreciate its context; second, the issue does not add value to our existence; and third, it disrupts our inner peace.  

Do not insist on seeing ghosts when there are none. 

The last one is particularly striking because this type of behavior vacillates between paranoia and overacting (OA), triggered by an imagination that conjures dementors and astral dreadnoughts representing distorted versions of valid convictions. Not all opinions was posted to attack your personal beliefs, religious sensitivities, or value system. Not all opinions posted was intended to offend you. You are not the central character of every narrative or issue you read on social media.

There is so much to be gained and learned from social media if we can just maintain a level of decorum that is acceptable in a civilized society. If there is something repulsive on your mind that you would rather keep to yourself and not say to someone if you were face-to-face because chances are high that you would get strangled, then you should not be posting it online. That, though, entails restraint, something that evidently has become too big an ask from people who have fallen into the social media black hole characterized by instant gratification and quick, unfiltered but unaccountable responses.

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