I woke up this morning and scrolled through my Facebook feed for a while (as you do!). My friend, who is a young mother, shared her opinion about how proud she is of being a full-time mum. Scrolling down to look at the comments, her friend starts arguing with her status, she then replied back, and the ensuing comment war was inevitable.
Scrolling down further, there was a man with a strong political view sharing an opinion about his favourite candidate, aggressively, and vilifying his rivals. There were about 30 comments in reply. I do not know what they were saying, I didn’t delve that far in, but I’m sure it was a heated debate, because the last comment said, “I’m done with you!”.
These are just a couple of common sights on my Facebook feed. People share their opinions freely. No boundaries. No consideration. Do you still remember how we used to keep a diary book years ago and write down all our own thoughts there? I really like the concept of a diary. Here you can vent your craziest thinking onto paper, and the best part is…it’s private. No one can see it. We can keep all our sensitive thoughts there.
Social media isn’t any different to a diary, it’s a place to write down what you’re thinking and what you feel. The only difference is, it’s all public. All your friends can see it, read it, feel it. So please think before you share some of your craziest thoughts. Just because you want to share your opinion, your friend’s feelings are being hurt. You are a friend in a real life, don’t ruin your friendships just because of a short sentence you write on your status.
Social media gives you the opportunity to tell your innermost thoughts to people thousands of miles across the globe. But sometimes the ones you hurt the most are the ones closest to you. Yell a negative thought to the world, and the one who listens is your closest friend. So please use your social media wisely.
Spread positive ideas, not hate!