Joanne Woodhouse-Roberts: Are we allowed an opinion?

In today’s world technology and the internet has come so far! I can remember around 1988/89 a teacher at my secondary school explaining the start of the internet.

I learned about ‘forums’ and how you could ask a question online and someone would answer the question. At the time I had no concept of what this teacher was telling me about – the ‘internet?!’

Do you remember when mobile phones first started? They looked about the size of a brick and yet today mobile phones fit so nice and neatly into our pockets, handbags and in our lives! How many of you leave the house without your mobile today? I certainly don’t and if I do, I am lost!

I regularly watch the TV series with Ben Fogle ‘New Lives in the Wild’, where he visits people who move away from society to escape the rat race and live in the wilderness. Many of them don’t want to live amongst the technology, they want to be with nature and live according to their beliefs. I am always so fascinated by people who choose to do so- in many ways I admire them hugely.

Being profoundly Deaf, I have embraced technology with open arms. I am guilty as charged for owning Apple products, such as a mobile, an apple watch and I also have an Alexa Echo and a Ring doorbell. For me technology has been a lifesaver.

However, it took me a long time to get my first mobile and really understand the world of ‘technology’ and in ways it benefits us.

I can text a builder and ask them to do some work, and they will have no idea I am Deaf until they reach my house. For once I can communicate the same way as a hearing person.

Once upon a time, it would have been much harder to get hold of a builder, I would have needed the support of a hearing person to make a call on my behalf – it’s so liberating that I have the freedom and independence to do things for myself.

I use my mobile for so many things, texting, online- Banking, Face- Time, Zoom, reading the BBC news and using Google maps to mention a few. There is no doubt in my mind that technology has been a huge benefit, especially during the pandemic and in lockdown.

However, owning a mobile phone comes with other issues, such as all the social media platforms; Facebook, Instagram, Tic Tok and Twitter for instance. I often ask myself, what are the ‘rules’ of social media?

As a society we are slowly learning and have a deeper understanding of discrimination in terms of sexuality, age, race, gender and disability. Some people may flout the rules, some may not agree with it but a lot of us I hope, are becoming more aware.

But what about the opinions on everyday stuff, such as the Royal family – should Harry and Meghan have gone to America, for example?

You can find anything on Facebook from Royalty, school reunions, business sellers to individuals such as friends we once knew in the past and goodness, I have found many friends!

I have been part of Facebook for quite some time, I know how it works – click if you like or approve of something/someone, write a comment or even share your own news and posts.

But what if I don’t like the comment that has been made? What if I don’t like what is being shared? What am I meant to do?

I have noticed a lot of people are expressing their disappointment, they feel they cannot have opinions on Facebook anymore. Many groups have administrators and they oversee their group. Administrators are able to delete a comment or worse case scenario – ban a person from being part of a group if they are not happy with comments being made.

I have also witnessed some cruel comments on social media, it’s very sad to see when people clash over differences of opinions, how it can become so very personal.

So, are some opinions right or wrong? My husband is older than I, he is from another generation so his upbringing and his education was completely different to mine. Yes, he is deaf but he has more hearing than me, and I suppose we are inherently different because he is a man and I am a woman. We do not see eye to eye with everything in our household, but which one of us is right at the end of the day?

Honestly, I am not sure there is ever a right or wrong in our opinions and logically we are bound to have different opinions because of who we are. We have each been influenced by so many different things during our own childhood and adult life.

There are, of course, times in life where we ARE clearly right or wrong – for example – if my husband and I took a maths test and added up the score at the end, clearly there will be a logical winner or loser! (In this case I would most definitely be the loser as I am hopeless at Maths and he is darn good!)

So, that brings me back to Social Media? I am not convinced that having a different opinion has to actually be a ‘problem’. I believe we can learn from each other’s opinions and learn from other people’s points of view. In short I believe we can share our opinions if it is done in the right way.

Everyone is entitled to their beliefs and in reality if we all thought the same, it would be pretty boring wouldn’t it? We wouldn’t have very much to say!

Could the problem be that it’s actually more about how we respond to other people’s opinions? The phrase ‘be kind’ comes to mind. Being kind, respectful, having empathy and consideration when we write or type online.

It’s so easy to forget when we are in our sitting rooms with our mobile phone typing a comment that other people will read and respond to those comments. Those people have their own emotions, feelings, experiences, and mental well being.

I often think we can all say the same thing differently. And often it’s not always what we say but perhaps how we say it . How we say it is so very important.

After writing this article, what am I thinking? Let’s write with love, compassion and kindness. I have recently seen a quote with Winnie The Pooh – maybe this sums it up?

”How do you spell Love? – Piglet

You don’t spell it, you feel it – Pooh.”

Joanne Woodhouse-Roberts.

Joanne is a profoundly Deaf BSL user based in Essex and has worked as a BSL tutor and Language Aide. She recently wrote and was involved in the production of ‘Give Us The Sign’. She is passionate about sharing ideas, Deaf issues and supporting one another.