The internet truly is an interesting place. It’s a virtual world filled with everything you want to know and more information than you could consume in a lifetime. You use it to connect with your friends, your favorite bands, family that you don’t see often, and other random people. Obviously living in America we have the right to speak freely, and if we didn't have that, I wouldn’t be writing this article. But something I’ve noticed over the past election season is the hatred that people have toward people they don’t know anything about.
The amount of stupidity that I see on the internet everyday is pretty astounding. It’s not just stories and articles that I read, it’s mostly things that people say in response to those articles and stories. I really don't know why I even read comments on things anymore because they always make me really angry. I never say anything because I know that it’s not worth it but jeez people, be nice even if you may not agree with somebody.
Hiding behind a keyboard is something that we are all doing when we surf the internet. People feel they can comment freely because it’s not face to face communication. There’s no threat of physical attack from behind a computer screen. But the truth is just because you’re behind a computer screen doesn’t give you the right to bully somebody because you don’t agree with them. If you don’t agree with them and you feel like you need to say something to them, then civilly discuss the issue.
Everyone is going through something all the time in life, and you will most likely never know that unless they're your friends or family. To all the people calling people names, stop and think about what might be going on, try to understand where this person is coming from. It might be a bit hard, but if you can do it then you are really doing a good thing.
You may not understand why some people are saying the things that they are saying but you don't need to. People are pretty set in their ways and most likely aren't going to change their opinions.
For a good majority of people in the United States right now we all just buckled up our seat belts and are planning on leaving them buckled tight for the next 4 years. Lot’s of people are worried about the current presidential situation right now and they have a right to be concerned. Let them be concerned and do what they want and say what they need to say. Just be nice to people online and everywhere else you go. To finish this off here is a quote from Hayley Williams, the lead singer of my favorite band Paramore “Be aware of your power. We have the choice to live positively”.
