I recently read an article on the New York Times about an interview with Judd Apatow. It was an interview discussing his response over some Trump tweets. The article itself was not about special needs at all, but something in his article really resonated with me.
“There’s a danger on the internet that you think you’re accomplishing something,” he says. “So you see an article about a disease and retweet it and think ‘It’s cured now!’ And you’ve fooled yourself into thinking that you’ve done something productive.”
It seems like every other day I see one of my friends or family members share a post on Facebook that says something to the effect of “Every like get $1 to charity X” or it is a picture of a child with special needs and some horrible story of them being bullied or shun and the post will be begging for likes to show this person they are beautiful. Many of the people in the photos have never given their permission to be used, and the posts claiming to raise money rarely if ever actually do so. Yet, time after time, the post are shared and people go on to think they just saved the world.
There has to be a way as a society that we can fix this. Instead of making negative or false things go viral, lets all volunteer our time for a cause we believe in. Or if you don’t have time to donate, donate money, or promote an organization that is doing something good. Let’s quit wasting our time and effort on things that yield no response and instead lets work together to do REAL GOOD.
The article continues and toward the end Apatow goes on to say:
“I’m trying to transition from making comments on social media to choosing one or two organizations to work with and support so that I feel like I’m actually being a positive part of the process. You don’t want to be a crank.”
Let’s follow his lead and all try to be part of positive change. Well said, Apatow!