I used to like to come home, check out social media and find out what my friends were doing.
Not anymore. Thanks to all the bickering that floods just about every platform, I’ve become disillusioned. All the puppies and cute kids can’t mask the meanness that doesn’t need to be.
Politics may have fueled it, but if we want a better world, someone has to end it. Saying snarky things about people who disagree with you only alienates.
To limit my exposure to that kind of conversation, I’ve backed away from posts that look political.
And that’s unlike me. Usually, I like to hear what people think. But posts these days don’t stop with the poster’s opinion. They often include someone disagreeing vehemently, a “fake news” attachment that supports the first position and a long back-and-forth that drifts off into another lane. Before long, there’s name-calling, a Hillary/Donald reference and a rash prediction of what’s to come.
People are also reading…
Why?
The “conversation” never goes anywhere, but it takes those involved plenty of time – and blood pressure -- to spout. It’s polarizing. It’s aggravating. It’s frightening. And it’s unnecessary.
The United States has always been filled with people who disagree. But they’ve never been this nasty. And why? Does it make them feel better because they voice their opinion without fear of consequence?
I’ve read vile posts from people who I once thought were loving, patriotic God-fearing people. Seeing how mean they can get makes my heart sink and makes me question if I misjudged them from the start.
Is this the happy grandmother who supports her grandchildren in everything they do? Or was she a lifelong hater who just reached a boiling point and decided to blow?
Does fear fuel the anger?
I shake my head and wonder.
Before we entered the last election year, there wasn’t this level of vitriol. The divisiveness – and pointed speech – somehow made it acceptable.
But why?
There shouldn't be open hunting on anyone. As my mom used to say, “Be better than that.”
I now know what she meant: Don’t get dragged into the conversation.
It’s fine to disagree. We need to hear all viewpoints to make decisions that are right for us. But to conclude that someone who isn’t on the same page is idiotic, greedy, racist, lazy, insane – you name it – is wrong.
Poet Maya Angelou nailed it: “We are more alike than unalike.” We need to build on those differences, learn from others and accept that few ideas have total support.
While those cute babies and pets on Facebook have largely been spared the criticism, it's probably just a matter of time.
I know social media empowers people, makes them feel like they're experts on a multitude of things. But I'd rather learn from their positive moves.
On my birthday, I got dozens of greetings from people and that made me feel like the richest man in the world. If you've gotten them, too, you know what I mean. It's exhilarating.
And that's what I'd like to see -- a positive movement, not a negative one.
I think we'd be amazed at the kind of results it could achieve.
It just takes one person to get it going.
