Lamb Of Godin Randy Blythe sosiaalisen median vaikutuksesta: ”Minua huolettaa nuori sukupolvi, joka kasvaa näiden laitteiden kanssa”

Yhdysvaltalaisen metalliyhtye Lamb Of Godin solisti Randy Blythe vieraili The Hardcore Humanism With Dr. Mike -podcastissa. Lähetyksen aikana puheet kääntyivät myös sosiaaliseen mediaan ja sen varjopuoliin. Blythe kertoi olevansa huolissaan suurimmilta osin nuoremmasta sukupolvesta, joka kasvaa älylaitteiden ympäröimänä. ”Tasku-Jeesus”, kuten Blythe puhelimia nimitti, on ainoa asia, jota ihmiset tuntuvat nykyään tarvitsevan. Blythen mielestä asioissa on usein todella suuri ero kun niitä katsoo puhelimen näytön kautta ja vertaa mitä asiat ovat oikeasti. Hän ei todellakaan ole uusia asioita vastaan, vaan näkee internetin arvokkaana työkaluna tiedon etsimiseen. Hän ei kuitenkaan ymmärrä ihmisten keskittymistä tykkäysten saamiseen esimerkiksi Instagramissa, koska loppujen lopuksi se ei tuo paljonkaan arvoa ihmisen elämään. Blythe kertoi:

”This is one thing that worries me for the younger generation, who are raised with these things. The ’pocket Jesus,’ as I call it, the cell phone, has everything you need; it’s your savior. The world is your oyster.

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For instance, I’ve traveled the world. I’ve been to every continent except for Antarctica. I can tell you there is a vast, vast difference from looking at pictures of, let’s say, the Highlands in Scotland, or watching a documentary about the Highlands in Scotland — you can learn some things. There’s a vast difference between viewing that on a screen and being there. It is unbelievable. That’s a plug for the Highlands; it’s an amazing place. But it’s not comparable.

So, for me, I’m not a Luddite — I believe the Internet is a valuable tool — but I feel it should be as the tool, a means to an end rather than the end itself. And I feel that’s kind of, in a lot of ways, what it’s become, with social media and so forth, people chasing likes and building their profiles and all that other stuff. And it’s, like, to what end? What does that get you in the end? A bazillion Instagram followers. What does that get you? How does that translate into something of value within your life other than you’re popular on cell phones.

When I lay down on my death bed, and I do hope I’m cognizant when I am dying — I hope I’m awake. I want to experience this; I want to understand what’s happening, and hopefully I will meet it with fortitude and bravery. But when I lay down on my death bed and I think about my life, I doubt I will say to myself, ’You know, I really wish I had spent more time looking at my cell phone, building my social media profile. I really wish I had been on the computer more Googling kangaroos,’ or whatever I was doing.

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I like to use these things in order to inject myself into the stream of life. I’m lucky enough to travel — or I used to be — with my band a lot, and when we would go into a city, I’d go on Google. [I would look for] museums, or what’s an interesting neighborhood here, or what’s the local food. And then I put the phone in my pocket and I go. Because I want to taste that food, I want to walk in that museum — I want to see these things. And I think the challenge right now, being stuck at home so much, is there’s a lot of things about my town, and I think this is for anyone probably, that they take for granted, that become mundane after you’re exposed to them daily. And I’m trying to really broaden my perspective on where I live and go see some things I haven’t seen in a while or maybe find some new things — try and view the world in a different way.”

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