Final Post

Social media is a platform form which individuals share all sorts of information about what is happening in their daily lives. The content can range anywhere from selfies on Instagram to a heartfelt plea listed on Facebook for needed help about a worldwide catastrophe happening thousands of miles away. It is a channel for which good can make a very strong presence as it can bring people together in countless ways.

Unfortunately, just as everything else in life, there has to be some sort of opposition. Social media can be a place for which a lot evil can occur. Just as bullying and harassment exist in our everyday life, they too exist online. Because ridicule and rudeness seem commonplace in today's world, individuals have become desensitized to seeing it online. Where making fun of and being rude to people were looked down on in the past has become more acceptable in today's technological conversations. It is now more difficult to stand up for those who are are receiving the abuse. Our culture has changed tremendously in this manner. Whatever happened to the idea of standing up for people and not being controlled by the media?

This idea of of standing up for others leads into the idea of compassion and its power to displace shame in the media. Compassion is an act of caring and standing up for those who are being shamed. It is some sort of level of love and kindness one individual has for another. It could be associated with Carl Roger's idea of having Unconditional Positive Regard. If people strive to have more compassion, this world, whether online or not, would be completely different. The mentality of people would move away from being okay with shaming to taking down those who are dehumanizing others.

Even though I am only one person among roughly seven billion people who exist on this planet, I can make a conscious effort to do something about what is happening to people on social media. Personally, all it may take is for one person to take a stand and say something. Instead of having posts glaze over my eyes quickly as I zip through my feeds, I could take the time to look out for those who may need a cheerful comment. One never knows of the impact a simple hello or a cheerful comment could have on the life of someone who may be currently shamed and ridiculed by those around them. If I can look outside of myself, there are always people who could use my help. I hope to be less sensitized and more alert of those around me. I want shaming to stop. No one really deserves to be treated that way.