In her January 2015 talk at the Ikeda Center, Dr.

Hicks presented three elements of

dignity, which she describes as “qualities we extend to others and would like for
ourselves.” The first element of dignity is acknowledgement of another party’s
viewpoint, which creates grounds for healing and connection. As we acclimate to
social media, we should consider how we communicate acknowledgement online: is a
like or retweet sufficient, or would a direct message be more appropriate? Perhaps
a picture conveys more than a comment? Maybe, as Oxford Dictionaries has recently
suggested, an emoji would best express our thoughts? Ikeda Center Advisor Masao
Yokota has written, “in a dialogue, we have a responsibility to be present and
enrich each other.” We must ask ourselves how our new forms of acknowledgement are
communicating our presence and our commitment to building shared understanding.

The second element is safety, particularly the safety to speak up about problems or
injustices. Such safety is essential in order to bring all voices to the table,
said Hicks, since people are too often “terrified” to speak the truth of their
lived experience. On social media, there are pros and cons regarding safety. We are
physically distanced from those who hear our voices, which can provide a measure of
security. However, our increased publicity invites the engagement of complete
strangers who care more about the content of a tweet then its author and its
context. Public shaming on the Internet often leads to people losing their jobs
and/or having their address leaked to the mob that would see their downfall, not to
mention the psychological impact of trending on Twitter as the target of a cruel
callout. Journalist Jon Ronson discusses the impact of shame culture in his TED
Talk titled “When Online Shaming Spirals Out of Control,” where he details how
tweeting a single joke cost Justine Sacco her career and her reputation for years.

One of the reasons public shaming happens so easily online is that social media
does not lend itself well to giving users the benefit of the doubt—the third
element emphasized by Dr. Hicks. A lack of context increases chances for
misunderstanding, and often that misunderstanding gets hashed out publicly in the
comments section, each response cheered by onlookers through likes or additional
replies. Records of past posts are widely available, and not all social media
channels allow editing of posted content. Screenshots forever preserve even the
most hastily deleted posts, holding people accountable for everything they’ve ever
published. A recent example: Comedian and soon-to-be Daily Show host Trevor Noah
came under fire this past summer for jokes perceived by many as anti-Semitic and
sexist that he tweeted in 2012. Fortunately, many voices took a dignity-affirming
position and gave Noah the benefit of the doubt, pointing to the significant growth
of character a young person experiences in three years. Noah took over the Daily
Show as planned, and in my opinion now walks the line of satire and offense with
significantly more grace.