The Dark Side of Social Media
I saw the dark side of social media recently and I saw the ability it has of totally destroying a person. The way each and every insult from people who don’t even know you tear away at your entire being breaking you down to nothing. They started with her physical appearance, they said she was ugly, they said her eyes were too small, they said she should get her mole removed and then they started comparing her looks to that of animals.
There were comments like she looks worse than my pet goat and she is wearing too much makeup. These were her pictures from one of the most important days of her life and they reveled in commenting and degrading each and every aspect of her physical appearance.
Then they moved on to her family and how she was from a family with a lot of money and that is why she was able to achieve what they considered to be something they deserved to have. They said she was where she was today because her family had money and they bought her what she wanted.
They were talking about a girl who is like a daughter to me. Their hate and dislike towards her were toxic and so very similar. It made it seem like social media turns people into hate mongers who have to destroy the happiness of others.
Why did they all decide to hate on her you ask? She must have done something if everyone thought she deserved to be abused and have her entire life and being scrutinized. She was harassed so much that she finally had to delete all her accounts and leave social media for a while. Her only fault was to say yes to a proposal from a guy whose family had been pursuing her for the past 3 years or so and begging for her hand in marriage.
When the relationship ended, they came after her again, making her the target of their hatred and anger. They had no idea what sort of toxic relationship she had been in. They broke her down again and this time they were much more ruthless and much more venomous. I would say that there is a very dark side to social media and I have seen it slowly choke and kill someone with its toxicity. What better way to kill someone than to destroy any sense of self-esteem and self-respect they have left after leading a very difficult life that none of them were aware of.
Then I see a shimmer of hope, I see some people defending her and taking her side. I see people stand up for her and tell the haters and the trolls to back off and leave her alone. Those voices though are a few and far apart. Those voices seem to be missing when they are needed the most. Those voices are the ones that people try to drown out more and more but those are the voices that matter and those are the voices that we need to turn this dark social media into a bright place.
I hope and pray that I am one of those voices, the voices that stand up to bullying and harassment, the voices that protect instead of attacking, the voices that speak truth to power. I hope and pray everyday to meet more people who are positive and encouraging. I pray to meet the people who don’t use their thoughts, words and actions to hurt others and bring them down. I pray to meet the people who lift others up and make them stronger and more determined to be themselves.
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