In the recent months especially, there has been an influx of disagreement and controversy flooding social media. This is most definitely due in part to the recent election that just held the country on edge. However, I have also witnessed numerous other social media disagreements that were sparked from causes outside of the political realm. Regardless of what may have caused these quarrels, the fact that I am seeing them on social media alone makes me feel incredibly ashamed of the society we live in. Plus, once you add in the actual content of these discussions and all the disgusting and hurtful comments people are saying about one other (and often times about those they do not even know), the broken reality of the world we live in is revealed.

For instance, I have noticed that just about any video on social media, especially those dealing with children, comes paired with all sorts of negative comments. Regarding the videos of children, these comments include elaborating on what one individual believes the parents are doing wrong in raising the child.This then spirals into an all out debate. Others then butt in with comments directed either at the parents, or the other person who voiced their opinion. Negative and hurtful comments are thrown out everywhere, and even worse, they are all amongst and directed at people who have not and probably will never meet. Don't get me wrong, I do not see much of a problem with simply voicing one's opinion (obviously, based on the fact that I am constantly writing on my opinions), but it is whenever things get personal, hateful, or when people start pushing their opinions on others in a negative way where I see that the line needs to be drawn.

By attempting to use social media to resolve issues, a person is accomplishing nothing except making a spectacle of the issue on hand and opening it up to more public judgement and ridicule. Through the media, attitudes are easily misconstrued and it is difficult to tell what point someone is actually trying to put out there. Then, everyone starts assuming things and the attacks begin. As humans, we are also flawed with the tendency to adopt the mob mentality. Once someone starts saying something, we often jump on the bandwagon and feel the need to throw our opinions out there, or even worse, simply feeling the need to agree with someone else's opinion because we either like the person, or feel like we just should support their opinions on an issue because they usually know what's going on. The reality is however, that we do not know the whole story, and it usually does not actually pertain to us in the slightest. We need to learn what battles are and are not ours to fight, and really just need to keep problems off of social media to begin with.

I recently witnessed someone writing something on social media on how they felt someone had wronged them. I was intrigued because I happen to know the person who was involved. When I looked further, I felt absolutely sick and disgusted. People who have never met the person of whom the post was about, and who had no other insight to who this person really was except for this post were writing the most hateful and disturbing things. I could not believe it. For an outsider reading the post and comments, this person seemed like an absolute monster, when really that is just about the furthest thing from the truth. As humans we make mistakes. Maybe this person really did wrong the person who wrote the post, or maybe they did not. I don't know, and it's not my place to know. However, the whole ordeal was broadcast all over social media for the world to see. I wanted so badly to go on and put my thoughts out there, but that was not my place to do so, nor should it have been anyone's except the people directly involved. Even then, it should have been dealt with face to face, not on social media for everyone to see and feel the need to get involved.

So, next time you go to post a problem on social media, please think about it. I'm sure that you will find that you would really be better off simply not posting it. I personally feel that technology and social media have become a way bigger part of society than they ever should have, but that is just how it is, and I cannot see that changing anywhere in the near future. So, if social media is going to be so prevalent, let's at least make it positive. Share videos of your cats, pictures of your family, inspirational quotes, what made your day, etc. rather than the problems in life. Everyone has issues, and they do not need the unnecessary drama of those of others flooding their Facebook or Twitter feeds.