“All of us individuals are the targets of these wars—whether it’s a marketing war or a real-world war. We’re the ones whose clicks decide whose side wins out.�* Vietnam was called the first “Television War.� Americans could sit comfortably in their living rooms and watch reports in grainy black and white of battles that had recently taken place and perhaps feel some of the immediacy that watching a newsreel in a theater some weeks after the event did not convey, as happened in WWII. The freedom of today’s nearly universally accessible digital social media, as we are learning, has its dark side. From fanatic fantastical conspiratorial scenarios that lead to real world mayhem, to the resurgence of hateful ideologies long thought buried, to the ability of one nation to interfere in the political process of another,or unfettered entré to personal bully pulpits leaves us all on a precarious precipice. Social media platforms such as YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, and Twitter, rely on content to drive them (and their advertisers), and the more unique, sensational or even shocking that content, the better. Up until recently, these sites depended, more or less, on contributors editing and censoring themselves, but in the “anything goes� atmosphere to achieve their Warhol-like five minutes of fame, few have done either. Believers believe like-minded folk and re-tweet, re-post and re-brand what they believe, no matter how thinly researched, if at all, and contradictory proof notwithstanding. So we are in a time when truth is no longer provable; science is no longer to be trusted—along with whichever political party or structure you don’t support (fill in the blank—and words spoken and images shown can be manipulated and contorted to mean something entirely contrary than intended or as originally shot. Perhaps the epitome of this virtual disconnect are the short videos of the war in Ukraine that populate YouTube and other sites nearly every day. The vast majority of them show attacks by Ukrainian forces on Russian troops, positions and equipment. Many of them are accompanied by rock or other stimulating music and all ask you to subscribe and “like� the post you have just watched. What, exactly are we being asked to add our kudos to? The fact that we have just seen some young Russian conscripts suffer grievous wounds from a drone-delivered grenade? Or a tank become the instant immolation chamber for several others after a missile strike? I will admit, that as an ex-tanker, I am both obsessed and horrified by the lethality of modern anti-tank weapons. While in no way condoning Russia’s invasion and its brutality in Ukraine, nevertheless, I can feel pity and empathy for those obliterated crewmen. (The weapons manufacturers, no doubt, are happy, as are the various western militaries supporting Ukraine as they get to see their weapons systems tested under actual battle conditions. That they are done so against the Russians, is an added bonus, though it might be wise for those same parties to keep a close eye on the Chinese.) Perhaps more disturbing than the videos of actual combat, are the hundreds (probably thousands) of interspersed gamer videos simulating fighting between Ukrainian and Russian forces. Given the grainy and blurred quality of many of the “real� videos (often drone footage) some of the gamer images can be quite deceiving as they replicate much of the equipment and tactics used, adding another layer of unreality, confusion and distance, and blurring the border between life (and death) and fantasy. Additionally, there is no fact-checking of any of this war-related content and it doesn’t take many viewings to realize that both sides and/or their supporters, are posting blatant propaganda and deliberate disinformation. Does YouTube do for the war in Ukraine what television did for the Vietnam War—make it real, immediate and palpable? Or, slotted in among the latest celebrity gossip, zombie apocalypse and how-to-unclog-a-toilet videos, and arm wrestlers disguised as old men and young guitarists doing their 30-second covers of The Sultans of Swing, is it just more distraction and noise in our already over-revved and superficial lives? What does it mean to experience war virtually and from our own perspective and prejudices? Journalist Sarah Jones says, “That’s why I refer to wars in the digital sphere as iWars. Not just because many access the internet or social media on their phones, but because our access to this information has become so individualized. The way we consume the information, for the most part, is all about us, all about a single post, all about an individual, as opposed to the big picture. In many ways we are embedded in a narrative based on the accounts or voices we choose to look at and/or follow.� ** There is something very wrong when the death and destruction of war is reduced to competing for our “likes� and thumbs-up on platforms of questionable social and moral value. *Peter Singer, co-author of “Like War: The Weaponization of Social Media,� Why Social Media is the New Weapon in Modern Warfare, https://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/singer-weaponization-social-media/ **Sarah Jones, Social Media’s Impact on War, diplomaticourier.com/posts/social-medias-impact-warreal-world war. We’re the ones whose clicks decide whose side wins out.�* Topangan Fred Samia is a free-lance journalist and Marine veteran. He served in Vietnam 1967-68; his eight decorations include the Purple Heart.