This may be a little bit of a rant but, a few of these have just really irritated me lately. The back story is I have joined this group on Facebook that is a financial motivational site. I joined in the hopes of learning something new. I am a firm believer in reading and listening to what others have to say because I just might learn something new. I am also a member of a community watch group on Facebook so that I can keep up on the crime situation in my area. I rarely post in these groups, I just like to stay informed.
Several months ago we had a group of people that were a little sketchy going through neighborhoods ringing door bells and knocking on doors. If you did not answer the door they would sometimes proceed around the back and side of your home checking doors and windows. One of my girlfriends had posted a similar situation on this crime watch site and I commented back to her about someone ringing our door bell that same week and that I had sent my hubby to the door. I shared that comment directly to my friend but within that group. If you do not know my hubby you would not understand the significance of sending him to the door. He takes glee in aggravating sales people because that is what he does. He pesters them with insane irrelevant questions about their products and then after he has worn them down he tells them he is not interested. The telemarketers do not call anymore because of what he use to do to them on a routine basis. I do love him though, he keeps me laughing.
So after I had made that comment on Facebook to my friend so man I do not know posts to me and says something in the way of; "how rude, not cool." So I posted back to him; "Pardon??" He never responded and I have not seen him post anything else in that group.
I shared all of this to pose this question. Why do people think it is ok to just post something nasty to people they do not know, about things they do not know? I think it may be this whole anonymity thing, they feel like they can say what ever they want because they do not know you and probably will never see you. I guess I was raised a little different, I would never speak to people they way some folks do whether I knew you or not.
I am just appalled sometimes by what I read others post on Facebook in comments to news or even personal Facebook pages. This is where I believe the internet has failed us as a society, we use Facebook as a means to bully, slander, and in general be mean to others. Why? Why would someone feel the need to post something nasty or hateful to someone you do not even know.
Today, I was reading some of the posts this afternoon and they were talking about Dave Ramsey, and you all know how much I love him and that I follow his plan. You know Dave hates credit cards and he does not think anyone should use them. Someone had posted how they use theirs to get free points and all of the perks and that they pay theirs off every month so they do not pay interest. Someone else in the group, a loyal Dave follower, responded pretty harshly about using credit cards. They called this person stupid and how could they be so dumb. I do not like credit cards but I would never tell someone I did not know that they were dumb for using one. I do not think I would tell someone that I did know that they were stupid for anything.
I think the election and the news media are also partly to blame. This past election has brought out the nasty on both sides and it does not seem to be dying down at all.
Why do people feel the need to be this way? Do they behave this way in their face to face relationships? Would they act this way to one of their friends? I think Facebook has caused us to be less social. They call it social media, I believe that is a misnomer, it is an anti-social media. We do not have face to face interaction or write letters to anyone you just Facebook people. I must admit I am guilty of that too sometimes.
My questions for the day: No judgement here.
Have you posted something negative to someone you do not know on any social media site?
Did you feel bad after the fact and wish you did not post it?
Have you had someone that you did not know say something mean to you on social media?
How did you react?
I genuinely want to know your reaction so please feel free to comment negative or positive.
No comments:
Post a Comment