Hitting that forward button…

…and what it tells about yourself.

Add it up to a group of selves and you get a community. Add it up to a group of communities and you get a country. Add it up to a group of countries and you get the world.

A world made up of a bunch of forwards and no… one… self.

It’s been now two years since I saw it so CLEAR. Didn’t do anything about it. Assumed too much. Two years later, I haven’t seen anything like it. It may be time to do something about it and help others see it too. After all, timing seems opportune. It’s November 6, 2020. Only 3 days after American presidential election. No clear winner yet.

October 28, 2018. Second round of Brazil’s presidential election. The left candidate: Fernando Haddad. The right candidate: Jair Bolsonaro. In Brazil, the current electoral law provides for a two-round system in which a candidate must receive more than 50% of the vote to win in the first round; if no candidate passes the 50% threshold, a run-off is held between the top two candidates.

I’m old enough now to have seen a lot (not all). I lived the first half of my life in Brazil. I’ve been living the second half of my life in the United States. Went to school at the Lycée Français in Rio de Janeiro. Grew up with kids of diplomats, and watched homeless kids begging for food. I’ve traveled some. Visited friends all over the world. Worked at global companies with offices all over the world. People are rich (the kind that makes them smile), people are fun (the kind that makes them loving), cultures are colorful (the kind that makes them large in spectrum). Yet, hitting the forward button is causing a motion that is placing them in ONE of two corners: the one on the left or the one on the right. The more you forward this way, the more you end up that way, like a recoil. It’s physics! People are being carried by that motion, and not realizing it. I’ve been hit left and right (pun intended) with forwards. Friends from the left. Friends from the right. What are they saying? What are they telling me? Do I know them anymore?

I’ve worked with technology now long enough to have seen a lot (not all). As a designer of interfaces, I’ve partnered with programmers to create digital experiences for people to use. Partnered as a team. I need them. They need me. As a whole. Not as parts. Not as opposites. As a complement. Those who know me know I can create art using Photoshop. I understand about pixels, mockups, computer color correction, screen shots, image manipulation. I also understand about advertising, the other kind of pixel used for tracking, website metrics, Google Analytics, interactivity, data. Therefore, I could have, but I didn’t. I don’t need to prove to you that I didn’t fabricate the images I’ll show you next. I know I could. You know I could. But I didn’t. And you can take my word for it. I only put them side by side for you to see, no filters. And you can see for yourself.

This is what I mean when I say I’ve been hit left and right with forwards.

October 28, 2018. As Brazilian election day unfolds across the world, votes are being tallied. On the left, what my left friends forwarded to me. On the right, what my right friends forwarded to me. They hit me both a few minutes apart. And I had to do a double take. The precision of the fake news (dare I use that term) is to the point of even using first and last name of the ‘liked’ candidate but only last name of the ‘disliked’ candidate — though my keenly trained QA’ed eyes caught the inconsistency on the right. Both systematically (literally and figuratively) including hashtags to complete them at the end.

I have saved the forwards. With all 13 cities cited from 5 countries mentioned. Meticulously the same 13 cities cited from the same 5 countries. Ask me if you want to see them all. Australia, Japan, China, New Zealand, Taiwan… all with time zones ahead of Brazil as a trick to make the message seem believable at a glance. As I received the first forward, I immediately thought to myself: “Aren’t they suppose to start counting votes after all countries have finished voting?” And I went to check on the official Brazilian government website. Indeed, no official counting happening until all votes are in. A few seconds later, I get hit with the second forward. And I had to do the double take. I saw it even more clearly with my own eyes.

Did I dare say anything to those who sent me the forwards? No, I didn’t. Did I know who they were? Of course I did! All connected to me. All sent them directly to me via WhatsApp! To me only. Not a group. Me. Personal. Friends. Family. I didn’t bother. I assumed better. I knew it would piss them off and have no effect. To whatever side, whatever I said, like a recoil, I would have received push back. Remember, like a recoil, hitting forward causes a motion that places you in one of two corners. It’s physical! No pushing back. Perhaps now, 2 years later, another country’s presidential election, reality has a better perspective to be seen (and vice-versa). Perhaps.

Dear Facebook,

From wherever cloud you live in these days, with your friends Google and Amazon, I write to you to ask you, as a technology platform, please learn from your data. Use it intelligently like a human would. Track the forwards. Trace them back to the source. Validate the source reputation. Investigate. Take action. Please.

Best regards,

One self.

Can you see it clearly now?

If all you’re learning today comes from a forward, please question it. Stop immediately, or take your time. Whatever it takes, question it. Not each message, but the source, the source of your learning. The source of what you’re choosing to learn, to believe, to criticize, to dislike, to like and to feel so much unison to the point of hitting that forward button, and sharing with your loved ones. Forwarding, and believing it represents you, your thoughts, your beliefs, your values. Don’t let it speak for itself. Speak for it, yourself.

You, as person, not a forward button. You, as a whole, with a left arm and a right arm, with a left leg and a right leg. You, with your disabilities. You, with your good side, and your bad side. You, with a mask, and without a mask. You, with your stories, your memories, your actions, your dreams and aspirations, your changes, your mistakes, your successes.

You, please, send more original content, less forwards. Spend more time soul searching. Expand your sources for learning. Evaluate them, optimize them. Use your judgement call. Read the news (dare I say that!), not one, but all, read a book, spot a tree, smell a scent, sing a song, pet a pet, talk to a person, listen from a person, have a conversation; keep a distance (no pun intended these days!); keep your mind clear; keep your eyes open; see for yourself; speak for yourself. Tell us who you are, in your own words. I bet you it will make you richer, more fun and more colorful. I bet you it will take you out of the corner, more loving and capable of loving.

Calibrate that moral compass of yours. You, have a role in society to build a better world.

Open your eyes and see what hitting forward is doing to yourself.

👀

PS: To those of you who noticed it, I only placed left on the left side and right on the right side because of that mirror effect when you’re reading this text. Not because I prioritized the left and started with it first, and therefore, I may be a socialist! You’re reading too much into it. Silly you!