Eight Values of Free Expression

 

    The Eight Values of Free Expression all have significant meaning and all carry importance for different reasoning. The one that resonates most with me is Individual Self-Fulfillment. A direct definition of that would state, “Free speech enables individuals to express themselves and thereby create their own identity — and, in the process perhaps, find kindred spirits. Freedom of speech thus becomes an aspect of human dignity, human agency and autonomy.” This is all about self expression and fulfilling who we are as people. This sits tight with me because I think I have always had the problem of being too sheltered and had a hard time expressing myself. I think being able to speak up and express yourself and what represents you is a crucial routine that needs to be had. The older and more comfortable I get with who I am inside and out my free expression is becoming more and more prominent. The confidence that I get from that makes me stronger and fulfilled by making my voice heard. This value allows people to have their voices heard and to express their identity and what makes them who they are. Obviously in the world people are going to disagree with our self expression or how we identify as people but pleasing everyone is nearly impossible. With this value, our values and expression are protected and just because people may not think it's right, it is still protected and supported. If we take a look back and see where this resonates in society today, we can see a very relevant source such as social media.

Social media is all sorts of ways people express themselves and we may not even know it but it's happening when it is right in front of our screens and faces. Sources like Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, Snapchat, Twitter, etc the list goes on are all very accessible and very well used in our everyday lives. The outlets allow people to post whatever they want if it's appropriate of course but people can freely represent themselves. Every individual's profile is basically a representation of the self so your profile can show a lot about who you are so it's key to make sure it's an accurate representation of who we are. Although it may sound silly, we do so much self representation and don’t even know it. For example, Instagram stories are a big thing that kind of show me who someone is regarding politics, someone’s favorite type of music, food, tv shows, etc. It tells us so much about people without even knowing it.

A flaw I could see where social media is negative is because people don’t actually express themselves, they represent a false version of themselves. Imagine if the world was not afraid to express who they truly are and how much happier people would be. People try so hard to try and post what they think other people want to see or what other people will think is “cool”. Elle Woods once said “Staying true to yourself never goes out of style” and that is something that I live by and think everyone should be and even the Value of Expression wants you to!