Last week, not so differently than usual but a little more obviously, we witnessed the carnival of discussions about nothing. The pattern is always the same: something happens that is completely irrelevant, or at least secondary in the grand scheme of things, attributable to social events that would normally find space in the center pages of a newspaper; for some reason unknown to me, this fact is relaunched as much as possible, we read about it everywhere, and it becomes – for a change – a divisive issue: there are those for and those against, those who side with X and those who side with Y.

It goes without saying that all of these people feel the need to declare to the entire world which team they belong to: it is mandatory to comment, increasing the scope of the phenomenon, which becomes a vicious circle, since it is known that by talking about certain things you will get likes and views; therefore you continue to milk the cow.

The inclusion of alternate license plates

The case of the Olympics is particularly sensational, because we have been monopolized for days by the story of the apparently blasphemous banquet, then by the story of the fourth place, and it seems that no one has cared at all about the social cleansing implemented to make the cities ready to host the “most inclusive ever” Olympics. By now, in fact, we are used to the fact that when it comes to inclusion we drag anyone into it just to continue ignoring the poor, who no one likes anyway because they stink and ruin our photos of the monuments.

The hypocrisy is evident, but probably not very interesting for most people. Also because it seems clear that the tone with which these “news” are commented is very attractive: this continuous patina of do-goodism and petality is a winner, completely fake, exclusively rhetorical, which in fact applies only to some people: if you are famous we respect your being fat and even end up saying that it is a positive model to propose, if you are starving instead we don’t give a damn whether you are fat (unlikely), trans or a winged horse.

Beyond the specific case, deplorable but certainly not new, the general trend, as always, is the problem. Not only do we talk almost exclusively about idiocies, but we also paint them as if they were capital issues: it is difficult to describe the sense of embarrassment one feels when reading certain articles and posts about this story of fourth place, which say disconcerting banalities such as “everyone has their own personal victories” presenting them as the discovery of hot water. It is disheartening to think that we feel intelligent by explaining the obvious to people who already think like us and only want to see their vision confirmed.

The discussions are not aimed at enrichment

In fact, the discussions that take place around these topics are never constructive, they do not enrich those who take part in them (given that if you talk about nothing it is difficult to get something out of it): they only serve to make us vent against a stranger on a totally irrelevant issue, which however for some reason momentarily inflames us, to the point that it is impossible for us to refrain from commenting. In fact, expressing oneself seems like a duty, so much so that those who do not do so are then questioned by users: why didn’t you make a video about this? I was waiting for your opinion! Which in reality means: I am sure that your opinion corresponds to mine and I would like you to legitimize my thoughts.

It is very difficult to escape this mechanism, also because it is inevitable to stumble upon this “news”: even though I have never turned on the television, nor looked for information on the Olympics (or on the story of the woman who was called candidate instead of female candidate, clearly an event that deserves the front pages of all the newspapers), I find myself, despite myself, knowing, albeit summarily, these events.

How to reverse the trend

On the other hand, important news, those that concretely concern the community, you have to go and look for them, which obviously very few people do; moreover, in any case, they are not appealing, they do not generate the same passion as useless news: in fact, we want to feel engaged and to get angry, but only for show. Just for a moment, the time to leave a comment, and then completely forget about the issue, until the next trend.

I probably sound like a prude: another widespread tendency is to brand as bigoted any vaguely critical position, which dares to suggest that we could also try to refine ourselves intellectually, instead of succumbing to idiocy (it happened for example to those who tried to say that certain reality shows are in antithesis to the concept of public service). However, the phenomenon has now reached unacceptable proportions, and the connivance (or rather the guilt) of journalists and content creators must no longer be ignored. Someone must start instigating a change; and if we wait for the media to do it, we will all die of decrepitude while railing against gender or insulting the family of a defendant.