Stop Lashing Out at People on Twitter and Facebook

I know Hollywood stars do it when they have anger towards another star and their fans are quick to follow suit. People forget that we shouldn't react from a place of anger because nothing good comes from it. It’s a malicious cycle that spreads ugliness and hate that wounds delicate hearts. But people are quick to type something they would never say to a person’s face. It’s like their empathy chip temporarily stops working and they become utterly vindictive and nasty.

Last year a study reported that anger is the most viral emotion on the Internet. The examination of how we humans are influenced by friends on social media, conducted by researchers at Beihang University in China, found that friends and followers are far more likely to share or echo angry sentiments than messages containing sadness, disgust or even joy. 

Angry tweets caused a ripple of more angry tweets up to three degrees of separation from the original irate message, the researchers found. The spread of anger was particularly high when the rage originated from a user with a large follower base. As a blogger and author I make a conscious effort to spread information, support authors' works, give inspirational thoughts, and to express my gratitude for life with my followers and subscribers. And I know many people have decided to do the same thing. It may not be the popular stance but I can sleep well at night. And I never have to go back and erase my tweets or Facebook posts due to an act of immaturity.

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Now if I could say one thing to my daughters and the other young people that use social media on a daily basis it would be to think before your type.  Remember your future employer, landlord, and colleagues will Google you and read the things you post. And if that doesn’t make you think twice before you post something… then think about how your family and friends will feel about reading the things you've said about them. You can also damage in your relationship by posting things instead of talking to the person one-on-one.

Now, I’m not saying I don’t understand why people post anger things.  I totally understand. I really do. I’m just asking you to think about why you want to before you do it. Everyone that reads your words will be shocked that you are filled with so much hate and then they'll question your mindset and decision-making processes.

Hey, do you really want your followers to think you’re so mad that you could possible hurt someone? It’s not a good look and I can’t think of one person that would want to be close to you after that.  I mean, they could be your next target, right?

So use Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook to give us a window into the things you love about your world (i.e. the happy memories, celebrations, and joyful moments) and leave the negative emotions for the people in your real life that can handle the drama… and then forget about it.

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