Tired of Mean

I've grown weary of checking Facebook and Twitter. It seems like every other post is filled with something mean about someone else. Maybe it's a political party. Maybe it's an ideology. Maybe it's even a person. I used to have a friend I had coffee with on a regular basis, but I finally stopped going because I got tired of hearing how everyone who didn't agree with my friend is stupid. Occasionally, when I disagreed, I'd be told, "Oh, but YOU'RE not stupid. But everyone else who thinks that is." Um, okay. But why does the automatic response have to be to call the other person stupid?

The more I think about people who think differently, the more I realize that none of them are stupid. Sure, some of them may be ignorant of certain facts, others may have interpreted a situation differently. And maybe they just don't agree.

You know what I think is stupid? Being mean. Just because someone doesn't agree with you or hold a viewpoint you agree with doesn't make it okay to be mean to them. Maybe they have a perspective you haven't explored. Maybe their experience is different from yours. And sure, maybe you do take the time to see the other side. and you still disagree. But is there a way to politely agree to disagree? Without name-calling? Without having to be mean about it?

I unfollowed a few people today. I really debated about it, but then I thought, "why am I letting this person suck this energy out of me?"  I don't want to read things that do nothing but tear others down. I'm thinking about going on a social media diet through the election.

How are you handling the social media negativity out there?