Social media is an integral part of our culture and some people have taken it upon themselves to use it at every possible moment to showcase any of their drastic opinions.
When two women who went to California Baptist University did something on a video that went viral, a lot of people did not agree with what they perceived from it. Twitter commented heavily on these women’s actions and CBU’s own Facebook page blew up with outrageous, inappropriate and offensive comments shaming the school for something its students did.
The women’s personal Twitters were deleted, but the Internet still did not hesitate to shame them in any way it could. Their personal information, such as their places of work and their parents’ names, were blasted across Twitter to help more people share just how much they disagreed with what they saw on the video.
Even regarding the controversy with professional National Football League players kneeling during the national anthem, the Internet has exploded with overdramatic comments on both sides, trying to shout their opinion across Twitter. Some people are shaming these men or shaming the people that disagree with these actions.
When you see something you disagree with or something you think is incredibly wrong on social media, we do not need to throw people to the wolves, destroy their entire lives or send death threats. It is dramatic and unnecessary to feel like you have to take justice into your own hands and become a “social justice warrior” for whatever cause they were disrespecting.
There is nothing wrong with disagreeing with someone. Living in the United States, we can all appreciate that freedom granted to us daily, to say what we want and believe what we want. However, that does not mean we should say everything that comes to our minds on social media.
Stop posting people’s personal information on social media with the caption: “Twitter, do your thing.” Exploiting someone’s life just because you disagree with them will not help the cause for which you are so passionately fighting. In doing so, you are now becoming part of the problem. Whether you think they deserve it or not, you are now hurting someone else in the name of “justice.”
Name-calling, insulting or verbally abusing someone over social media simply because you don’t agree with that person is immature and can be considered cyberbullying.
Rather than taking your cause to Twitter, find a different way to fight for the cause in which you believe, outside of social media. Stand up for what you believe by actually making a difference. Bashing someone online won’t change anything.
