Why do people feel such a compulsion to scold or shame a person for a supposed infraction that's minor or none of their business?

"I would never ______."

"Those people are less _____ than me."

Maybe ...

It's to feel better about themselves.

"Nothing like that could ever happen to me or the people I love."

When we scold or shame others, we make two assumptions: the person we're scolding is someone who routinely acts without regard for society, and it's our job to teach them how to behave so they won't do it again.

However, I've made mistakes and "bad" decisions. I've done things in my life that I thought I'd never do because I'd never anticipate being in the situations I was in. But I've learned from those experiences and have grown from them.

Nowadays, if history was to repeat itself, someone could very well post a photo of me as a way to publicly "expose" me of shame and humiliation.

We all know that anything and everything online is a different story.

There is no buffer between what people do in their daily lives and what is put online.

Internet speech can be cruder than our real-life interactions.

Our failure to grasp our online power has become a liability — personally, professionally and morally.

Especially since the Internet doesn't do take-backs if you change your mind later.

Don't get me wrong, there are also positive uses for Internet shaming such as #blacklivesmatter, #whyIstayed and #yesallwomen.

Nevertheless, we aren't giving others the benefit of the doubt. Everybody's either a magnificent hero or a sickening villain.

We need to be more willing to pause to put ourselves in another's shoes.

Parents of small children are the biggest targets for shaming when it comes to whether or not their children "misbehave" or seem "coddled."

Passing any type of judgement because of minor parenting differences distracts from its great responsibility.

Creating and engaging in "belly button" or "collar bone" challenges are not only totally pointless but body shaming.

They promote an unhealthy body image for everyone involved.

Taking a person's posts about embedded personal issues and turning it into faux realities is a stage for our worst impulses.

It can be liberating for some people to be poetic about their hidden vortex of emotions and daily lives.

Remember: people all around us are shouldering burdens more heavy than we can imagine.