The Virtue of Empathy Expressed in Our Tributes to Kobe

Kobe Bryant and his family when the Lakers retired his
numbers at Staples Center

If you were devastated after hearing the terrible news of the passing of Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gigi, along with 7 other victims who were with them, then you are not alone.

If you took the time to post or write a tribute to Kobe Bryant on a social media platform, then you are also not alone.

It is amazing how social media can help to deliver messages to those we don’t even know. In “Social networking technology and the virtues,” Shannon Vallor reflects on the role that technology plays in human communication and the aim to make human activity easier, less risky, and immediately satisfying. Within human interaction, there lies the virtue of empathy that is mainly based on physical human-to-human interaction. Is it possible to develop these virtues quickly through social networking technologies?

Empathy is the ability to feel with and for others, which is considered to be one of the most difficult virtues to develop. A version of empathy can be expressed by being physically present for a grieving friend, especially when words seem to not be enough to console. Not having a mediator in comforting our friend’s pain may make us uncomfortable, but it would deepen character and moral perception. Now Vallor challenges us to think about whether this act of empathy is possible through social networking communication? Could the genuineness of the virtue also be masked by other values and that are embedded in the use of social media?

Lakers honoring Kobe by wearing his number
on their jerseys

In Floridi’s “The Fourth Revolution,” he mentions that changing age of the Internet has made it  easier to transfer information. After hearing the devastating news of the 9 victims on January 26, including the basketball legend Kobe Bryant with his daughter Gigi, the world immediately took it to the digital world to express their sorrows and compassion to those affected. Not only did close friends, fans, and family take it to social media, but different news outlets were competing to report the horrendous accident first. Everyone knew within minutes after the first article was released about the terrible incident. 

Even though there might have been different motives by the news to compete for attention rather than offering comfort to people, it was not as powerful as the heart-warming posts by everyone that was impacted by Kobe’s sudden death. The Internet created this opportunity to experience empathy through an online community. People offered and received comfort through their social networking platforms. It is amazing to see how powerful our words through the Internet can impact those close by and far away.