The world has always consisted of people who are angry, disturbed, hateful, and just plain ridiculous, but in the past, these people would have to gain a position of power and leadership in order to make their voices heard. Some of the smallest groups would have a voice, but it would remain acknowledged as a small voice and not given much weight. However, with social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and comment sections on most other sites, every angry, disturbed, hateful, and ridiculous person now seems to have a voice that is shot across the world. With people now able to voice their rants on public sites, they now have the ability to get the spotlight and a loud speaker system and hurt those that they just want to complain about given their mood or lack of compassion.

We have all encountered these type of people in the workplace or our neighborhoods. These are people who just want to complain and inflict hardship on others because they either want attention or they want a sense of power and satisfaction in their boring and uneventful lives. The problem with this is that they cause problems for a lot of innocent or well meaning people. But is this completely the social medias fault or is the media giving them too much attention? Many times if you go to any news website and read an article about this type of thing you will see them make a story using three to four comments on Twitter or another site. Here are a few stories that related to people who are caused grief who don’t seem to deserve it-

1. Burrito Shop Forced To Close

2. Conservatives having their voices silenced

3. Sofia Coppola wins award

4. Arial Winter shares pictures

These are just a few of what are happening this week.  And the list goes on and on…

Here are some helpful tips that should be considered when writing comments on social media-

  • Consider others’ point of view
  • Use your filter- Just because you feel like saying something doesn’t mean you should. At least if you do need to say something make sure it is polite, civil, and ensure your language is professional.
  • Before you post, get up out of your chair and go run a mile or exercise- Don’t let computer blindness affect your comments.
  • Do a little research on the topic before you comment. Nothing screams ignorant as much as blatant ignorance.
  • Get a respectable and mature adult’s advice before you post.
  • Don’t go looking for a fight. If you are commenting for the purpose of fighting, then get up out of your chair and go have a conversation with a real person. You might just find that your attitude will change when dealing face to face with another human being.