I\nhave grown to hate social media more and more every day. My general\ndistaste for the product, no matter the format, isn’t how they\nfunction or how much of my time it takes up at work, but rather what\nit has turned people into. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One\nof my favorite quotes is, \u201cThe Internet is the single best and\nworst thing that has ever happened to humanity,\u201d and I honestly\ncouldn’t tell you who said it. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The\nInternet and social media have connected us with people we really\ndon’t want to talk with all that often, anyway, but all kidding\naside, it has become a wealth of knowledge, it has helped overthrow\ndictators, and I love the fact that it allows me to stream NBA games\nat will. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Unfortunately,\nI have seen sides of people I love that I never would have seen\nwithout social media. In other words, I think this wonderful resource\nis turning us into hateful people, who need to be outraged about\nnearly everything in the world, instead of just what should cause\noutrage. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There\nare literately thousands of examples of the \u201coutrage police\u201d on\nsocial media, going after someone’s job or shaming someone for saying\nsomething they didn’t like. Gone are the days of being civil to one\nanother in person and accepting that we all come from different\nbackgrounds with different experiences and those backgrounds and\nexperiences shape our opinions, which should be largely different\nfrom one another. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Recently,\na certain Oklahoma quarterback was publicly shamed for something he\nsaid as a kid. I don’t care for what he had to say, but at the same\ntime, I can understand that he was a kid and was probably feeling\nthings out and unfortunately, had the situation of growing up in the\nInternet age, something that I was luckily spared. God only knows\nwhat could become of my life if I could have posted what I was\nthinking at the age of 14 to a public forum. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\nwould wager people wouldn’t think it was always smart or good\nhearted, and I am willing to bet most of the folks angry at a certain\nOklahoma quarterback would find things they said in their youth that\naren’t all that tasteful, either. Gone are the days of context, where\nwe can reason that what someone said years ago doesn’t make that\nperson today. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Over\nthe last year, our company has gone through a lot of changes, adding\npapers and saying goodbye to another through a sale. We have said\ngoodbye to longtime employees, due to retirement, and we are all\nexperiencing a new reality, due to those changes. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\nhave printed my cell phone number in newspapers, given my e-mail out\nto thousands and have never shied away from talking with anyone in\nour coverage area. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Most\nof our employees, especially the journalists, are very similar. They\nare happy to talk with people about coverage in the newspaper, story\nideas, and even things they write on the opinion page or on their\nsocial media that might cause a stir. They are professionals, and I\nappreciate them for being able to speak to those who sometimes don’t\nlike what they wrote or how they wrote it, being a news story or a\ncolumn on the opinion page. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A\nnew thing for me has been people contacting me about what our\nemployees say, telling me they don’t like it. In seven years at the\nhelm of this company, I haven’t had that one hit me too often, but\nthis past week, I have been contacted three times about something\nsomeone in our company wrote. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Never\nhad that person approached the person who wrote the opinion they\ndidn’t care for. They came directly to me, the owner of the company.\nFor what? Retribution? To get the person fired? I am not really sure,\nto be honest. I assume they wanted me to say something and get the\nperson in trouble, regardless. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\nthink this mentality comes from social media, to bring this all to a\nhead. I think we are used to being outraged and ticked off about\nthings that used to roll off our shoulders. I yearn for a day where\nwe can read something we disagree with, give a thought-out response,\nand be friends later, or simply disregard it as something that was\nsaid years ago, as is the case with the example I mentioned above. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In\nhigh school, I took four years of classes that prepared me for civil\nexchange. We were taught to debate both sides of an argument, and\nsometimes you didn’t even agree with what you were arguing, but you\ndid so to win the round. Debate is something I would love to see\nevery person take, as it taught me to hear what someone is saying,\nthoughtfully argue a point with facts, and shake hands afterwards. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\nsee the opposite on social media, and now it is slowly but surely\nleaking into real life, where the consequences are far worse. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Maybe\none day we will work through this anger in our hearts and move past\nit. I fear that day will never come, but hopefully, one day, in\nperson, we can get a beverage and discuss things civilly and be\nfriends afterwards. That would sure be neat.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I have grown to hate social media more and more every day. My general distaste for the product, no matter the format, isn’t how they function or how much of my time it takes up at work, but rather what it has turned people into. One of my favorite quotes is, \u201cThe Internet is the single best and worst thing that has ever happened to humanity,\u201d and I honestly couldn’t tell you who said it. The Internet and social media…<\/p>\n