Dear Internet,
In the last week, I have watched one of the articles from the Missouri State community go insanely viral. It became a Twitter moment, Daily Mail wrote an article, Huffington Post wrote an article, Barstool sports even gave their two cents on the piece, and it goes on and on and on.
When we write, we write about what we want to share on Odyssey. This is what this platform is for. Many find the opportunity to get their footings into what future careers in journalism look like while others use it to express themselves. The thought of writing an article that catches media attention is exciting to all of us, don't get me wrong.
However, we do not have a way to prepare for criticism that can sometimes follow a viral article. Many of us are not experienced in the field of journalism. Many Odyssey writers are nursing majors, foreign language majors, and about every degree you could think of. Many of us do not receive prior training and guidance on the fact that within the journalism industry you must maintain a thick skin to combat criticism and move on with your job.
I have learned a lot about the people of the internet since the writer's article has gone live. People are not afraid to share their opinions on something. No one should be. We wouldn't be who we are if we didn't share what we were thinking. Writing is the same way. Journalism is a way for people to share the news and express what they think on an issue.
If you don't like something, fantastic. You can say that the writing didn't sit well with you.That is how opinions work and no one told you that you are wrong for having one. We live in an age where we speak our minds and advocate for issues that we believe in. We've watched young men and women bravely begin their fight for gun control, women's marches across the entire world have started a revolution, we as a country have fought back and debated on the removal of Planned Parenthood from across the nation, and we advocate for a need for more mental health emphasis in our healthcare systems.
However, we advocate for mental health yet we are so quick to destroy one another on the Internet.
The statistics for bullying correlated to suicides have slowly been on the rise in the past couple of years. I could list multiple sites with lists of statistics from the past two years however those that are well versed on the internet can look for themselves.
It doesn't seem necessary to go tell the creator of an article that she needs to kill herself. It doesn't seem warranted that you search her out on wedding sites to blatantly mock her and state that you wonder if she "will use the internet to blog about the divorce." Yet many pages that do this same mockery are the ones that tweet and post the importance of helping people with mental health issues such as depression or suicidal tendencies.
You are part of the problem. You are part of the reason we have issues such as these. You are part of the reason that we could see another post that someone ended their life over things that a coward behind a computer screen said to them. You'll see the news, state your condolences, and go back to destroying someone else's life. You are the people that sit there and say, "Read your self-harm article, it's a shame it didn't work the first time." Would you want someone to say that to you? If you're reading this and thinking "Well I'm not the one who wrote an article about my fiances' high school ex," who cares. In any context, who would want to be told to go kill themselves numerous times a day.
Mental health is something why all take seriously. Well, some of us claim to. How about you prove you take the issue seriously and advocate for it on all ends?