The Depersonalization of The Internet
One thing about social media....
It has brought humans together in ways that nothing has. The internet is one of the greatest inventions of all time along with the wheel, sliced bread, and antibiotics.
The internet has shaped our worlds and also shaped what we think about issues. When you see something on the internet that you do agree with, how often do we rush to the internet and attack a person without knowing or having all the facts? Why do we do it? Because the media mainly tells us that its okay to go on the attack.
Personalities like Nancy Grace, Bill O'Reilly, Bill O'Maher, Jon Stewart are some personalities that come to mind. (Sean Hannity, I couldn't forget about you.) Now I happen to agree politically with a few of the people that I've mentioned here (HINT: not those that think like Bill O'Reily, Nancy Grace and the unforgettable Sean Hannity) But going after those that we disagree with and making inflammatory statements is the way to go.
For us, sometimes opinion pieces are more important than actual news. Think I'm making it up? More people get their news from talking head like O'Reilly and Jon Stewart than they do the actual news. Why? Because people look for others to tell them how they should feel about certain issues. Most people are not informed enough on their own to form their own opinions.
Social media is a way to weasel out of a human confrontation. Its much easier to type how you feel in 140 characters or less than it is to tell that person how you feel. But the bonus is, that you can do it anonymously! It is a great way to let off steam from those horrible days at work or those stressful days at school.
When you can dehumanize people you don't even know and spout words that you may not even believe, it can relieve stress for some people. For others, it is a great outlet for their frustration and anger. But what it relates to is a state of mind where once you start that behavior online, it can be very difficult to stop the behavior in real life, so to speak. When you act out online, those interactions can and will carry over into your life, causing some great disturbance.
I know. I've been there. For a while, I got on some great crusade and thought that I wanted to take on racists wherever they lurked on the internet. I put my cape on and defended people from really derogatory comments made by anonymous people.
What did that get me?
For a while, I started to look at one race as if they ALL were racist! I couldn't help it. It became my thought automatically. I had to learn to let it go. I know that 99% of those people that say atrocious things on the Internet won't have the guts to say it to your face. I confronted a young woman one day that called me a name in my car. When I met up with her, she got very scared and almost hit someone trying to get away from me, even though I said nothing threatening.
Yeah. Cowards.
But that's me. There are thousands of people that take attacks personally and it has not been good for their mental health. Its impossible to stay off the Internet since it is 2014 and it happens to be everywhere.
What can one do against what seems to be a mighty tide of trolls just waiting for their next ridiculous cause to pounce on?
Use compassion.
Compassion is the one emotion that allows you to see people who they really are AND accept. Compassion allows for others to make mistakes and have their own 'so called' "Come to Jesus" moments in their own lives. Compassion allows us to see that those people are really sad and that bad things happened to them in their lives and they wish others to be miserable. Compassion allows us to realize that since the attacks are anonymous, then we cannot take them personally because those people don't know US personally.
The next time you see a TV personality attacking someone for doing or saying something stupid, or some troll wants to debate you on the IQ of Latino males, just smile and turn the television off or move along to something else. The other wonderful quality of compassion that I almost forgot to list is that it allows you to allow yourself a nice coffee or Snickers Ice Cream break.
It has brought humans together in ways that nothing has. The internet is one of the greatest inventions of all time along with the wheel, sliced bread, and antibiotics.
The internet has shaped our worlds and also shaped what we think about issues. When you see something on the internet that you do agree with, how often do we rush to the internet and attack a person without knowing or having all the facts? Why do we do it? Because the media mainly tells us that its okay to go on the attack.
Personalities like Nancy Grace, Bill O'Reilly, Bill O'Maher, Jon Stewart are some personalities that come to mind. (Sean Hannity, I couldn't forget about you.) Now I happen to agree politically with a few of the people that I've mentioned here (HINT: not those that think like Bill O'Reily, Nancy Grace and the unforgettable Sean Hannity) But going after those that we disagree with and making inflammatory statements is the way to go.
For us, sometimes opinion pieces are more important than actual news. Think I'm making it up? More people get their news from talking head like O'Reilly and Jon Stewart than they do the actual news. Why? Because people look for others to tell them how they should feel about certain issues. Most people are not informed enough on their own to form their own opinions.
Social media is a way to weasel out of a human confrontation. Its much easier to type how you feel in 140 characters or less than it is to tell that person how you feel. But the bonus is, that you can do it anonymously! It is a great way to let off steam from those horrible days at work or those stressful days at school.
When you can dehumanize people you don't even know and spout words that you may not even believe, it can relieve stress for some people. For others, it is a great outlet for their frustration and anger. But what it relates to is a state of mind where once you start that behavior online, it can be very difficult to stop the behavior in real life, so to speak. When you act out online, those interactions can and will carry over into your life, causing some great disturbance.
I know. I've been there. For a while, I got on some great crusade and thought that I wanted to take on racists wherever they lurked on the internet. I put my cape on and defended people from really derogatory comments made by anonymous people.
What did that get me?
For a while, I started to look at one race as if they ALL were racist! I couldn't help it. It became my thought automatically. I had to learn to let it go. I know that 99% of those people that say atrocious things on the Internet won't have the guts to say it to your face. I confronted a young woman one day that called me a name in my car. When I met up with her, she got very scared and almost hit someone trying to get away from me, even though I said nothing threatening.
Yeah. Cowards.
But that's me. There are thousands of people that take attacks personally and it has not been good for their mental health. Its impossible to stay off the Internet since it is 2014 and it happens to be everywhere.
What can one do against what seems to be a mighty tide of trolls just waiting for their next ridiculous cause to pounce on?
Use compassion.
Compassion is the one emotion that allows you to see people who they really are AND accept. Compassion allows for others to make mistakes and have their own 'so called' "Come to Jesus" moments in their own lives. Compassion allows us to see that those people are really sad and that bad things happened to them in their lives and they wish others to be miserable. Compassion allows us to realize that since the attacks are anonymous, then we cannot take them personally because those people don't know US personally.
The next time you see a TV personality attacking someone for doing or saying something stupid, or some troll wants to debate you on the IQ of Latino males, just smile and turn the television off or move along to something else. The other wonderful quality of compassion that I almost forgot to list is that it allows you to allow yourself a nice coffee or Snickers Ice Cream break.
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