The Jewish comedian is a veteran of the battle against online antisemitism
November 15, 2021 12:41Jewish comedian David Baddiel, a veteran of the battle against online antisemitism, is making a documentary that will explore how social media affects our behaviour - and why it makes us angry.
The hour-long BBC programme, ‘David Baddiel: Social Media, Anger And Us’, will explore “whether or not one thing initially designed to assist us discuss things with one another results in everybody shouting at one another”.
Mr Baddiel last year toured with a stand-up show, Trolls: Not the Dolls, which tackled the issue of Jew-hate online.
In the upcoming documentary, the writer and presenter will explore his own relationship with social media and how the “indignant and hateful tweets he receives” influence his own behaviour.
As part of the documentary Mr Baddiel, who is a “self-confessed Twitter addict” with a large following, will stop using social media for two weeks as an experiment.
He will also discuss ideas such as cancel culture and whether social media has encouraged or created “a brand new sort of mass democracy or simply mob rule”.
He said: “David Bowie, in 1999, mentioned, of the web, this may change all the pieces. As ever, Bowie was a prophet.
“As a result of what looks like only a technique of communication has utterly modified how we talk.
“Social media particularly appears to have raised the temperature of each sort of utterance. I’m hoping this movie will add to the understanding of all this and never the anger. However I’m nonetheless anticipating to be shouted at online about it, after all.”
Viewers will see Mr Baddiel interview people whose lives have been “damaged” by online trolls.
The BBC’s commissioning editor of factual entertainment, Emma Loach, said: “David’s considerate and clever movie is well timed and pressing. It explores the optimistic, destructive and sophisticated sides to our online and offline selves and assesses the effect social media is having on all of our lives.”