I don’t do this very often but when I do, it’s usually because something has queued me to do so; a thought, something I’ve seen, experiences with people… You know, those few times you feel really inspirational and thoughtful about something that you just find the need to share it (or maybe it’s just me). Right now, I’m feeling it and it’s all about social media. Social media is our world right now and I know that social media is the key to everything these days: getting important information out, sharing moments, bragging about new things, talking about accomplishments… The point is that social media is the one place that we can all go to share things with people we know (and don’t know) and have them pretend that they have some sort of mutual interest in what we share. That’s what brings us together, really. However in that same breath, it can be said that it’s also the same place where hatred and jealousy start to fester. Social media is a shared common ground where people can become friends and also become enemies.

Whenever I write things or put my opinion on this blog, it also means that it’s game for criticism and opinion – and I totally understand that. Everybody has an opinion about everything and those same exact people want their opinion to be right. Yup – we’re all guilty of it because really, nobody wants or even likes to be wrong. But what is it that has made criticism and opinion so abundant on social media that it starts to become a casual thing to do? Why do people hate things on social media?

Over the last little bit, you start to be able to pick these people out from the rest of your friends list. They’re the ones that talk about cleaning out their lists all the time, like it’s some spring cleaning ritual to them. They’re the people that always have a negative comment on a status. They’re actually also the ones who are always posting those statuses about their life and its problems. Don’t these people realize that they are ruining the flow of social media? They are metaphorically the same as the people that walk in the wrong direction in the malls or as the driver that’s doing 20km/h under in the fast lane. They all ruin the flow and they all piss you off.

So what is it about these people that grinds my gears so much? It is simply that they do not understand the constructs of social media. They just can’t seem to grasp the idea of what is acceptable to place on the world wide web and what isn’t. You probably shouldn’t talk about how much you hate your job just like you wouldn’t talk about how much you hate your significant other. What makes it okay? Nothing really – unless you are purposely trying to get fired, then I hope you succeed. 10 years ago, our ability to be better people was defined by how we treat other people. We need more of that and less broadcasting of bridge burning. Less hate-derived opinions and more respect.

These are the worst types of people on social media and since social media is essentially the world we live in, these people are consequentially also the worst types of people in this world.