“I
need everyone to calm down ….Please”
A
few years ago I had a boss, that was one of those people who always had a cause
that she was very passionate about. No matter what her cause was, various
non-profits, homelessness and how to deal with the problem, charity’s that she
supported, all very good causes, and I admired her for having them, but I also
resented the hell out of her for making HER causes MINE.
I
admire the passion and drive that people are showing their respective causes of
the moment but as I said to my boss on several occasions I also need everyone
to just calm down. It’s exhausting, dealing with the causes of the world. In
the last few months my social media has exploded with causes that people
support and while I appreciate a good tweet/post supporting this or that the
never ending tweets and posts of the masses are just … exhausting my level of
social media.
As
a nation, hell universally, we are more connected than we have ever been but
also so polarized in our “outrage” at times we don’t even know what we are
outraged about. From gay marriage (PS can we just call it marriage now?!) to
the confederate flag, to a US dentist killing a lion, downed planes, Pro military, anti military, Cops VS everyone, abortion, animals being mistreated, missing
children, and guns rights, it’s all becoming too much. I’ve even seen people
attacking others for the stores they shop at, the restaurants they frequent,
and the cars they drive. This never ending assault on my various Timelines for
and against all of these things is taking its toll on me.
Again,
I don’t have a problem with people posting their beliefs and would NEVER tell
someone not to do so, as that’s the reason social media exists, what I DO have
a problem with is when those beliefs are posted and someone jumps someone
else’s ass for not sharing their particular belief. The discourse that we are
currently inflicting on each other goes against EVERYTHING social media was
born for.
Oh
you want the confederate flag to fly you are a racist, you agree that Marriage
should be legal for all then you are going to hell, Religious posts vs you are going to hell posts really drive me crazy. I mean my goodness people
at one point over the last year we were arguing about a freaking dress color. I mean guys
come on what are we doing with this amazing tool that has been given to us?! We
don’t debate this shit at all we call someone a name and then the piranhas of
social media pounce until that person either blocks everyone or just goes away
entirely. Lord help us all if it’s a celebrity and their “fan base” that get
involved cause the piranhas become zombies hell bent on taking someone down in
the name of loyalty to their favorite actor, athlete, activist, or author. It’s
no wonder that one of the Presidential nominees is running away with the race at
the moment as his biggest response is they are an idiot. IT’s enough to make
someone want to cancel their internet connection.
Let’s
realize that not everyone is going to back the same cause, that no cause is
more important or bigger than the last, that there’s room for everyone in this
arena. Let’s all strive to put the SOCIAL back in Social media, to have
discussions even if they make us slightly uncomfortable, let’s hear one another
out and have meaningful discussions. Let’s debate topics that concern us all
and maybe, just maybe we’ll all learn something in the process.
Most
important let’s do whatever we can to raise the level of discourse of our politicians
cause goodness knows it can’t go lower.
-Marcy
(@beaslma)
-- who is jumping off her soap box now. :D Thanks for letting me rant now let's start a discussion.
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