The State Of Social Media... Kind Of.

As you may or may not know, I flippin' love Twitter. As of late my beloved platform has taken a dramatic shift. not a great one, I must add.
I tweet a lot, more than most, I guess. But as much as I tweet I also observe. 

My job is in social media so I spend a good 6-8 hours a day online looking into trends, people's behaviour and all sorts of internetty shit, and there are a few things I have noticed. I'm not sure how I'm going to express these "opinions" without being too blunt. But I feel it's something that everyone knows about and no one really talks about. Well, some of these things at least, and it's these things that are making the internet less fun.
*Keep in mind that these points are not twitter specific. They exist on every social media platform imaginable. 


Trolls

Everyone loves a good troll now and then. I myself have been on a few rampages but have really tried to keep away from such behaviour.
I lesson we've all be taught but have not always practices is "If you don't have anything nice to say don;t say anything at all". This should be rule number one of the internet. Have your opinion, but you can do that without being a dick. We're all adults, for the most part, so I don't see why we wouldn't act as such.
I guess the veil of anonymity is something people get a kick out of. This doesn't make you powerful at all, it makes you weak... if your opinion is so strong you should be strong enough to stand behind your opinion in your own capacity, not behind a fake name and cartoon picture. No one likes you.

The Happiness Haters

These people are my favourite. I'm also being really sarcastic. 

These people find "joy" in talking down on people who project general happiness among all the clutter of news and rage. Yes, motivational posts can get a bit overboard now and then, but it's negative sentiment to genuinely happy people that gets me down.
I've recently been a victim of this. I use the word "victim" very lightly - I wouldn't want to make you think I feel sorry for myself for it. I don't.
Live and let live. How can these peoples' happiness possibly have such a negative effect on your life? You know where the unfollow/mute/block button is, use it. Until then, here's a happy dance for you.

The Everything Haters

Who hurt you? Talk to us, we're here to help. Yes, opinions are cool, but being an asshole isn't cool. Just chill.
That is all I have to say in this matter. 

"Naysayers"

Much like everyone is entitled to their own opinions, people are entitled to their own beliefs. Now, before anyone gets offended, this is a two way road. If you cannot have a civil conversation about what ever belief it is you are against then don't even bother. Just block or unfollow and move on. It's really okay.
I do not see the need to talk down and ridicule people based on their beliefs. If I think the world was created by a giant crab and when I die I will go live in a giant oyster shell under the sea, why can't I? Who are you to tell me I can't think that. And who am I to tell you that you can't think what you think. We can all think for ourselves, so let others think for themselves too. We're all here now so there's no point in arguing about how we got here or where we'll go when we're done. We just don't know for sure. Let's just be friends while we're alive.

Subtweeters

These are my absolute favourites. I'm also being very sarcastic. They're not...

Once again, I've done this, but I don't see the point. We're all grown ups here (I think) so act like it. Conversation is one of the greatest things in life and subtweeting defeats the whole point of being in social media. note the word "Social"... My dear friend Merriam-Webster can help you here:

social: \ˈsō-shəl\ - relating to or involving activities in which people spend time talking to each other or doing enjoyable things with each other.- liking to be with and talk to people : happy to be with people- of or relating to people or society in general

If you don't like conversing with people or being with them, log off and go read a book or something. 

The Creeps

Now this is a major one. Sadly some people might not even realise they fall in this category as it differs between the people they engage with.
Basically these are the people that make other leave the internet. They are the ones who are the first to favourite every tweet, double tap every instagram post, like every Facebook page. Yes by following that person I guess you do have the right to do so, but it really doesn't come across as healthy. These people infiltrate every social circle somehow and it's just plain weird. I'm sorry. It's this obsessive behaviour that makes people, especially girls, too nervous to tweet or post anything regularly. Again, chill. You can look from a distance, you don't need to like and comment on ev-ry-thing-ah. Again, you might need to log off a bit and discover the outside world and find more things to enjoy. I don't know.

In closing I must reiterate that these are things I have noticed myself and things I have heard others bring up in real life conversations (aka IRL). So I can't be too far off.
Long story short, don't be a dick, be rad and treat people the way you would like to be treated. Unless you like to be treated like an asshole then don't even bother.

Until next time. Be awesome.