Can You See the Other Side? Empathy (or lack thereof) in Online Political Debate — Part 1
You may have unfriended someone during the last political season. I hope not, but it is quite possible. Why do I care, why do I hope not? The lack of empathy we are seeing in modern political debate is significantly harming our ability to have civil discourse and come together as people with the same general goals with accepted differences of opinion mixed in. In one way, the online world should be bringing us all closer together, allowing us to see so much of the other side of stories, parties, elected officials, yet instead it appears to be tearing us apart for the most part. Why? We aren’t empathizing, we aren’t listening, looking to see the other side.
This lack of empathy is not partisan. We all are guilty, and we all need to fix it.
