Hey everyone! First off, I'd like to thank Victoria and Nahla for following (and thanks Victoria for the comment & prayer)! It was such a pleasant surprise to see that you'd found my blog worth reading, and that I'd hit the big 4-0: my blog is officially over the hill ;). Kind of exciting :D. And now, onto the reason I'm writing this post…
For quite a while now, I've been growing increasingly aggravated by the way people behave online. I'm talking about the catty insults and comments through almost every social network, from anonymous jackholes and 'friends' alike. I wasn't bothered by it on Blogger, which is why this is where I'd spend the most time online-a positive environment with people who have better things to do than flame eachother. However, even here, lately things have been rough. About a week ago, I decided to get a Formspring account, because I knew a couple people who had them and thought it sounded fun. Once I got on and made some connections, I was appalled by the things some people were being told, and deeply angered by the cowardice of anonymous 'questions' that recommend suicide and do nothing but insult and tear down their target. I haven't just seen it on one page, either-it seems to be happening all over the place! What bothers me in a very different way is when friends fight over nothing, and things get blown out of hand, because they choose to speak before they think. Recently the amazing Ayla wrote a post on this issue, and instead of me getting worked up and rambling about just how wrong it all is, I'm going to share some of her well chosen words with you.
"...this hate isn't coming from low-life spammers anymore. This is coming from people we used to be friends with.
I'm going to come out with it: WHERE IS THE LOVE? What happened to when we could all log on to Blogger and say what we wanted without people trying to shove their own beliefs down our throats? What happened to being able to stand up for our rights without being accused of, among many other things, a "satanist" "disgusting" "fat" "ugly" "putrid", or, my personal favourite (read: sarcasm) "A piece of trash"…"
"…I'm not accusing ANYBODY who I follow, have followed or who I've emailed. This is about a problem Blogger is experiencing IN GENERAL. I understand standing up for your beliefs. But does that mean you have to tear someone else's down? Aren't some of the things God teaches are patience, love, and tolerance?
Jealously, hatred, fighting - they don't impress anybody."
Read the complete post HERE, it is worth your time.
For quite a while now, I've been growing increasingly aggravated by the way people behave online. I'm talking about the catty insults and comments through almost every social network, from anonymous jackholes and 'friends' alike. I wasn't bothered by it on Blogger, which is why this is where I'd spend the most time online-a positive environment with people who have better things to do than flame eachother. However, even here, lately things have been rough. About a week ago, I decided to get a Formspring account, because I knew a couple people who had them and thought it sounded fun. Once I got on and made some connections, I was appalled by the things some people were being told, and deeply angered by the cowardice of anonymous 'questions' that recommend suicide and do nothing but insult and tear down their target. I haven't just seen it on one page, either-it seems to be happening all over the place! What bothers me in a very different way is when friends fight over nothing, and things get blown out of hand, because they choose to speak before they think. Recently the amazing Ayla wrote a post on this issue, and instead of me getting worked up and rambling about just how wrong it all is, I'm going to share some of her well chosen words with you.
"...this hate isn't coming from low-life spammers anymore. This is coming from people we used to be friends with.
I'm going to come out with it: WHERE IS THE LOVE? What happened to when we could all log on to Blogger and say what we wanted without people trying to shove their own beliefs down our throats? What happened to being able to stand up for our rights without being accused of, among many other things, a "satanist" "disgusting" "fat" "ugly" "putrid", or, my personal favourite (read: sarcasm) "A piece of trash"…"
"…I'm not accusing ANYBODY who I follow, have followed or who I've emailed. This is about a problem Blogger is experiencing IN GENERAL. I understand standing up for your beliefs. But does that mean you have to tear someone else's down? Aren't some of the things God teaches are patience, love, and tolerance?
Jealously, hatred, fighting - they don't impress anybody."
I know that I don't always make the best decisions when communicating online-the aforementioned jackholes really deeply anger me, and sometimes my words are not well chosen. Nobody is perfect. But I'm really trying to pay attention to how I treat others, in my personal and family life, as well as in online communities. I know where my weaknesses are (when I don't believe something is fair, for example, I'm quite a stubborn mule for what I see as justice and a volcano of pure fury-gotta work on how to EXPRESS those feelings in a more respectful way that people can understand). And I think something people often forget is that it isn't always what you say-it is HOW you say it. What I'm asking is that anyone reading take the time to think about the way they're acting, try and assess the way they handle situations they don't like, particularly online. This isn't going to get fixed unless we all make an effort-though I have to say you guys pretty much rock, and I haven't seen too much trouble from ya ;). Sorry for the dreary post-just needed to let some of this frustration out. Anybody sympathize?
