If you have been on Twitter in the past few days, you know that the U.S. and Iran are trending topics. A decision made by our President to attack Iran has caused an uproar amongst citizens, but not in the way you would think. There have been a plethora of tweets speaking about the so-called “World War III.” The tweets are making fun of the possibility of the U.S. going to war and how certain people would react to the war and being drafted. The use of popular memes and gifs to express sentiments about the potential Third World War has enabled more people to find the humor in them. The response of Twitter users illuminates the way our country reacts to the possibility of our own danger.
As opposed to causing a national panic, the news brought the Twitter community together to enjoy some laughs. In a time that typically would be filled with crisis and frenzy due to the unknown, humor has been used as a coping mechanism. Making light of an intense situation in order to prevent panic is not uncommon. Humor has always been used to calm people down, which is where the term comic relief comes from.
It is interesting to analyze how social media has been utilized to be a source of comfort and humor. We all know that social media brings people together. The constant status updates, posted pictures, and stories to share what we’re doing at any given moment in the day creates a sense of togetherness. It makes us feel closer to friends we haven’t seen in years and tied to strangers we’ve never met. This is no different when the possibility of an attack on our country seems imminent and the loss of lives is at stake. While many people understood the potential severity of the situation, it didn’t stop them from laughing and indulging in the memes. The tweets can be seen as a manifestation of collective fear. However, they also had a calming effect on many. The sentiment was, “well, if we are joking, then it must not be that serious.” And the truth of the matter is, we don’t know what will happen next, so panicking will do nothing but to instill fear in more people.
Some people did not find the jokes funny at all. There is a saying that you can tell a lot about a person by what they find funny. This is what the critics of the WWIII tweets felt. They believed it spoke to the ways in which social media has desensitized us to tragedy and devastation. Ultimately, it was suggested that we, as a generation, are incapable of taking anything seriously. But is that really the case? Is it that this generation is incapable of taking anything seriously, or is it that we recognize our own positions in this circumstance and choose to make the most out of it? I encourage everyone reading this article to answer this question for yourselves. If you read the WWIII tweets and could not help but laugh, why do you think that is? If you did not, then why is that?
