Social Media Respect
It has been a while since my last blog, so I thought I had better rectify this!
So much has happened over the past few months that it is hard to know where to start. However, I would like to start with a topic that touches every one of us and that is "Respect". In particular social media respect.
As human beings we can be very self-opinionated. On the whole, this is an admirable quality. If we didn't sometimes challenge each other, authorities or our beliefs then the world would be a much more boring and backward thinking place.
However, we need to show respect to others when we are using social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter. People use social media for a variety of reasons from keeping in contact with family and friends, sharing interests, following 'celebrities' and also to share opinions on a number of topics.
In the old days (pre-internet) a lot of conversations would take place in the tea room or at the water cooler at work. In reality, these conversations still happen to this limited audience today. However, social media allows people to access a larger audience. The use of hashtags are a common way to find a topic and comment on it.
Social Media allows people to hide behind their comments without the recipient (of the comment) knowing who they are. This leaves everyone's opinions and beliefs open to potential attack. These attacks are nowadays known as trolling.
I, myself, have been trolled on a few occasions. These troll attacks have been in relation to my views on gun control, politics, asylum seekers and ensuring religious tolerance. Except for one occasion I have not worried about the attacks. The only occasion it affected me I really felt infuriated!
However, as time goes on I have realised that not everyone will share my views. In fact, a number of my friends differ with me on a variety of topics. Having said this, some people react differently to other peoples views. In extreme cases, due to trolling and cyber bullying, some people have taken their lives after being attacked.
So when you read a comment or post on a social media site remember that a human being with feelings has posted it. Healthy debate is always to be welcomed but do not overstep the mark. Lets keep conversations healthy and non-aggressive.
So much has happened over the past few months that it is hard to know where to start. However, I would like to start with a topic that touches every one of us and that is "Respect". In particular social media respect.
As human beings we can be very self-opinionated. On the whole, this is an admirable quality. If we didn't sometimes challenge each other, authorities or our beliefs then the world would be a much more boring and backward thinking place.
However, we need to show respect to others when we are using social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter. People use social media for a variety of reasons from keeping in contact with family and friends, sharing interests, following 'celebrities' and also to share opinions on a number of topics.
In the old days (pre-internet) a lot of conversations would take place in the tea room or at the water cooler at work. In reality, these conversations still happen to this limited audience today. However, social media allows people to access a larger audience. The use of hashtags are a common way to find a topic and comment on it.
Social Media allows people to hide behind their comments without the recipient (of the comment) knowing who they are. This leaves everyone's opinions and beliefs open to potential attack. These attacks are nowadays known as trolling.
I, myself, have been trolled on a few occasions. These troll attacks have been in relation to my views on gun control, politics, asylum seekers and ensuring religious tolerance. Except for one occasion I have not worried about the attacks. The only occasion it affected me I really felt infuriated!
However, as time goes on I have realised that not everyone will share my views. In fact, a number of my friends differ with me on a variety of topics. Having said this, some people react differently to other peoples views. In extreme cases, due to trolling and cyber bullying, some people have taken their lives after being attacked.
So when you read a comment or post on a social media site remember that a human being with feelings has posted it. Healthy debate is always to be welcomed but do not overstep the mark. Lets keep conversations healthy and non-aggressive.
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