Hasty tweeters repent!

30 January 2015 - 02:20 By ©The Daily Telegraph
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Image: Wikimedia Commons

Social media is making us nastier as a society, turning simple disagreements almost instantly into vicious online feeding frenzies, the Archbishop of Canterbury has warned.

The Rev Justin Welby urged people to think twice before saying something online which could be said face-to-face.

Writing on his blog on the Lambeth Palace website, the Archbishop insisted he was a fan of social media but said he feared it could be doing lasting damage if not handled with care.

"The trouble is that subtleties, tone and access all get muddled up," he wrote.

"That's not a new comment - it's been said many times - but the subtleties we lose when we communicate electronically have to do with expression, with touch, with the face-to-face aspect of relationship.

"Social media does not show tears in the eye, a hand on the arm when saying something painful, body language that speaks of inner turmoil and deep distress.

"Electronic media breaks through locked doors, and pierces people painfully."

He contrasted the intensity of Twitter storms with a passage in the Bible.

"Love often says if you must rebuke, then do so in person and with touch - with an arm around the shoulder and tears in your eyes that can be seen by the person being rebuked."

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