Twitter: The toilet of social media. No one spares any gruesome details. They use twitter as a funnel of their concentrated hatred and teen angst. I wish we could all just get along, but with misuse of twitter and other social media the best of friends go to two little angry devils that turn red at every tweet.
“OMG, WERE YOU ON TWITTER LAST NIGHT!” Whenever I hear this sentence I know either someone was crying, or there was a real serious blood boiling altercation. Accusations flying everywhere! No one was safe! It’s like digital warfare. Whether it is “throwing shade” (look it up) or literally tagging someone in an unpleasant post to expose them, misuse of twitter and other social media is completely out of control! Why is everyone out for each other? Do they really care that much about followers and retweets? It’s just the internet, not life or death. Some people need to learn to quit trying to snatch people’s wigs off for some favorites!
But on a serious note, I’m not trying to tell you to not use twitter. It can be very funny and entertaining at times. But the reality is, people don’t use it for those things. They use it to offend and humiliate their peers. When people are behind a keyboard they forget that the people reading and experiencing their tweets are real people with real feelings. They let everything out as if it were their own personal diary. They throw caution to the wind. They don’t worry themselves with thoughts of any possible consequence, and instead let emotion drive their fingers to call their best friend a rather unflattering word because she wasn’t able to give you a ride after the party and you were having a bad day. When twitter is used in this way It can ruin someone’s friendship and reputation and maybe even their life. I know that sounds a bit drastic, but it’s a reality. Twitter and other social media are so embedded into our daily lives that we take them way. too. seriously. Some people even create fake accounts to keep their identity a secret while completely exposing another. Some of the things people will do just to get their rather irrelevant point across is amazing. Twitter should be light hearted, not your digital shrink!
The number of people attacked over social media is growing as much as the apps get updated. These attacks doesn’t only affect us as teenagers, but it also could happen to celebrities. Recently, news about Cee Lo Green and his controversial tweet regarding rape. His tweet goes on to say that “It’s not rape If the person is passed out…”. The consequences that followed his tweet was complete and total hate. This is a well deserved response, and he eventually had to to delete his account for all the hate he was receiving. BUT THE POINT IS, no one should EVER post something like that! it is absolutely crude. What happened to the days where we kept who we voted for a secret? Nearly everyone uses twitter as a site to slander other people. Politicians, Celebrities, HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENTS 5th graders!!!! People have it so out for each other that you can easily find articles on how to react when being attacked over social media. If your social media has to come with a self defense handbook, then you’re probably not using it right. Twitter is now having to hire more people just to deal with these attackers. And of course, they are protected by the law as long as they don’t pass certain boundaries. Police can be involved with twitter and social media bullying but it usually isn’t taken as a serious threat if you have to read it from a site that is all about quick half thought out posts.
In the end, social media is a go-to place for people of all ages to catch up with their outside world and vent their situations at hand. There will always be someone who uses it for negative actions. It is up to us as a society to work together to stop cyber-bullying and hate crimes through different social media before it gets out of control.
