Social Media Gets the Worst in Some of Us
How come we’re all so courageous online?
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Social media can be a wonderful and grim place at the same time.
So many people find the courage to speak up online that we sometimes wonder what has gotten into them. Would the same people who shout from the top of their keyboards be just as brave if they’d have to shout from the top of their actual little lungs?
Or is it that the higher the distance, the more pumped up their courage?
Mike Tyson says it straight from the shoulder:
“Social media made you all way too comfortable with disrespecting people and not getting punched in the face for it.”
Sounds harsh? Perhaps.
But is there any other explanation why so many people are so mean and say such cruel things online, again and again, other than the fact they have nothing to fear of?
I’m not the type who says much, offline or online.
It can be a blessing, but also a curse. Those who speak a lot have little time to listen, and perhaps less time to notice the good and the bad things others are saying.
The first time I got a “mean” comment, it was just an uncalled-for irony.
The second time, it was a bit more polished and precise — as in “raging bitch”.
I think it was “bitch”, I’m only certain about the “raging” part, that’s the one that stuck in my head for like a day or so before I brushed it off.
But to think that being called a raging whatever out of the blue is actually one of the “softest” things one can endure online, makes you give Mike Tyson’s words a bit more thought.
Is social media making us worse? Or does it simply brings to light the worst that was already in us?
Before you get grumpy at me, I know.
I know fighting evil with evil is not the way to do it.
So, finding the cyberbullies and punching them in the face is obviously not the Iron way to take. If it isn’t that, what are we left with? Education?
