Kendall Krasinski
Values of Free Expression
With all that, we have discussed so far in class and have read the descriptions of the eight values I found that two are primarily prevalent in today's society. The two values I find most important are stable change, also known as the safety value, and individual self-fulfillment, which is also known as self-actualization. I thought these were the two most important due to how our generation frequently expresses our thoughts and feelings on social media. Social media has grown tremendously over the past fifteen years. With apps such as Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook younger generations have been able to freely express their opinions.
Stable change does not result in violence due to individuals being able to “vent” freely with their words rather than their actions. Many people my age and older use Twitter to voice their current feelings and opinions on a platform rather than leaving these feelings bottled up. I feel being able to share what you are thinking makes you feel better and reduces stress. If you leave all of the thoughts in your head it will one day cause you to explode and may even lead to violence of some sort. It is also said that being able to express freely helps the government from finding groups or individuals who might be planning something or communicating something dangerous. This will prevent a violent act from getting worse. For example, there have been many cases where kids in schools have tweeted about “shooting up the school” or posting a picture with a gun. These posts get sent to the police and most of the time stop any horrible tragedies to occur. There are two sides to this value that I think to make it so important. One side being people can express their views and emotions freely to an audience that will listen. This is helpful so instead of them keeping it to themselves they have an outlet that lets them air their feelings. The other side is that police and government can catch an illegal act before it's done. Whether this is someone sharing a violent photo or speaking in a harmful way. This as I said will prevent and keep the authorities ahead of any situation that could potentially escalate. Stable change in my opinion is one of the most important of the eight values of expression.
Especially in today's society finding yourself and creating your own identity is heavily preached. Therefore I believe individual self-fulfillment is another important factor in the eights values of free expression. For me having two older siblings it has always been important to me to make a name for myself other than “their little sister”. For example, throughout my high school experience, I use to participate a bunch and get my thoughts and opinions across so I would be known for what I felt. In addition, I wanted my teachers to know me as more than just a past student's little sister. People my age and younger use the app like tik-tok to express who they are and want to be. They feel they can truly be themselves and have an audience of people who support them for who they truly are as a person. They can voice their inner feelings, political opinions, etc. Freedom of speech gives individuals the opportunity to voice their own opinions and obtain a sense of dignity. Society gives people the opportunity to express themselves every day and individual self-fulfillment is one key aspect that voices that.
Out of the eight key values of free expression, I found that individual self-fulfillment and stable change are the most evident in today's society and truly stuck out to me. I found these to mean the most to be due to seeing them everyday via social media platforms. My generation has the luxury of using a platform to express themselves freely and connect with others who feel the same. After reading the eight key values of free expression I feel it’s so important for people to share their views and opinions.
