After the Tragedy

After the Tragedy Yesterday, the morning after the horrific terrorist attacks in Paris, I posted the following quote on my personal Instagram account: In light of the Paris tragedy, Im reminded of Anthony Jeselniks uncomfortable but honest commentary on Internet “sadness.” To paraphrase Jeselnik: When something horrible happens, everybody runs to social media and writes the exact same thing: ‘My thoughts and prayers are with the victims.’ Do you know what thats worth? Fucking nothing. Less than nothing. You arent giving any of your time, your money, or even your compassion. All youre saying is, ‘Dont forget about me today.’ Ergo, lets do more than post a stock photo of a peace sign on social media. Lets find ways to contribute beyond ourselves. The positive comments on this post were numerous, but there was also a spattering of fake outrage, as well as some crude personal attacks and even one potential death threat (which I deleted). Some people missed the point entirely: they seemed to take my post as a personal assault, as if I were judging them for their social media postings. But of course I wasnt, because I know better: I understand that judgment is but a mirror reflecting the insecurities of the person who’s doing the judging. Besides, I dont give a damn about an Internet trolls hurt feelings; Im concerned about the well-being of the victims. And so, rather than judge the comment-thread crusaders, I wanted to emphasize that we must do more than exercise our Twitter fingers: a hashtag and a photo alone will not solve the problem, and they can be dangerous because they ape the form of real action. If you want to effectively contribute after a tragedy, here are a few options: Money. If you can afford it, donate to charities that are helping the victims. Even a couple bucks makes a difference. Resources. Our most precious resources are our time, our attention, our influence, and our creativityâ€"all of which, when done well, can prove even more beneficial than charitable donations. Heres an idea: find a handful of friends, coworkers, or members of your community and have a discussion about how you might use these resources to collectively contributeâ€"not only for this tragedy, but to the everyday world around you. Youll be amazed by how much a small group of compassionate people can uncover. Then, whatever you decide, work together to take action. Ultimately, caring is a verb: real love and support and understanding means we are concerned enough to express it through our actions. So, sure, social media can be a good first step, as long as its just thatâ€"a first step. Once weve expressed our grief and shown our solidarity, we must then do something about itâ€"because if we dont, then all were left with are well-meaning but solipsistic status updates. Subscribe to The Minimalists via email.