Every time I decide to entertain myself and read the comment section on a Facebook video, I always find myself witnessing the same repetitive situation. One person nitpicks and finds a so-called flaw in a completely funny, informative, or heart-warming video. Then, this unfounded and irrelevant comment is bombarded with many replies from the opposing side consisting of those who find social media entertaining, not offensive. Some of the comments I've seen are brutal.
It saddens me that one miserable individual feels the need to start a snowball effect of negativity by typing their unnecessary remark. Whether it's criticizing those in the video or claiming that the clip was offensive, someone always has a complaint.
The video could be about adorable, newborn puppies, and there would still be a comment about how the owners are irresponsible for allowing their dogs to breed or about how their house is not suitable for housing that many dogs. Who cares! We are all here to watch a happy video of precious little pups. If the theoretical dogs are being abused or are in any serious danger, comment away! Speak your mind and contact authorities so that you can be helpful. If this is not the case (which it usually isn't), your comment is not helping them. In fact, it's harming everyone.
Almost instinctively, other commenters come out of nowhere and argue with the initial instigator. Social media arguments rarely go anywhere, and at the end of a fight, no one's opinion is changed. Instead, feelings gets hurt as the initial instigator fuels anger from other Facebook users, and it only escalates from there.
Then innocent bystanders like myself feel the need to step in! I've always felt like a natural mediator wanting to avoid conflict between parties, but I know that my attempts on social media would be futile. Many fall victim to this trap by joining the comments with good intentions, but they end up getting sucked into the negativity.
As you can see, the snowball effect is real. Next time you have something negative to say on social media, consider if it is really worth it. Is your comment contributing to the common good? Will criticizing someone change anything? If not, don't type it. If you're the individual who is receiving derogatory comments, please don't take it personally. There will always be someone who wants to bring you down and make you look like the bad guy; just ignore them.
In times when everyone seems to be over-sensitive, I believe that our nation needs to remember the quote:
"You can please some of the people all of the time, you can please all of the people some of the time, but you can't please all of the people all of the time." -John Lydgate
