By Valéria Lima
There’s a theory that Communication majors learn about in college, called the “spiral of silence.” Basically this hypothesis developed by Elisabeth Noelle-Neumann says that less popular opinions tend not to be heard, as they get drowned out by the opinions of the majority. She links this to the role of mass communication mediums in forming public opinions.
I agree with this theory. Those who don’t agree with the majority, often risk getting shredded apart. Society almost never forgives individuals who are against “common sense.” Just look at what happened to the protestors of the Brazilian dictatorship.
But that’s all back in the world of the X’s, Baby Boomers, and Veterans. In the world of Y’s, this theory simply doesn’t apply. Today the norm is disagreement. The dissonance comes from young people, very young people who aren’t afraid to question, contest, and protest.
Online communities, chat forums, and social networks, are the greatest proof of this. It’s very common to see young people joining online communities where they criticize the very businesses they are applying to be a part of. They say what they think without any filters. The spiral of silence is over. Today it’s cool to disagree! And people are actually the opposite of what Noelle-Newman argues. And they are admired and respected, precisely for that.
During her lecture, Eline always talks about how Generation Y wants to be different from other generations. When it comes to speaking their mind openly they are in fact very different. They haven’t lived through a time of censorship. I experienced the end of the dictatorship, and even though I was only a child, I knew that there were certain things you just couldn’t say. You had to watch your back and always be conscious of your surroundings. You had to speak low.
Today we have the great freedom of being able to say what we think. I believe that generation Y and the generations after them will really benefit from this freedom, which no other generation has experienced up until now. They probably won’t realize how valuable this freedom is, for they haven’t experienced the sourness of not being able to really say what they think, as those before them did. So it seems that the theories of communication will have to silence the very spiral of silence.
