(Young Voices Speak is eaglenews.ph’s blank space for the youth to share their opinions, views, and perspective on any topic, issue, or matter)
QUEZON City, Philippines – There’s a new trend on social media!
Revenge is a lot sweeter now that you can easily do it on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Youtube, name your favorite social media here! So, how do you do it? Well, ask no more, ’cause I present you with the easy steps on how you can successfully disgrace the name of the person who’s done you wrong:
Step 1: Stalk their social media accounts and save their worst pictures. If you were able to take a video footage or screenshots of their disrespectful action, then that would be better.
Step 2: Pour all your emotions in writing a lengthy story describing the details of the incident.
Step 3: Choose a social media platform where you want to post it, but you might as well do it on Facebook since you’ll reach a larger number of audience.
Step 4: Post your story with the pictures, screenshots and videos that you were able to gather.
Step 5: Watch satisfyingly as people from all parts of the world judge that person based on your story!
Pretty easy to do right? But wait, something about this new trend is unsettling, somehow it feels WRONG… Well, surprise! Because IT IS.
Everybody does it these days that people think it’s okay and it’s the right thing to do. I would say they have a point there, I mean, come on! That man attempted to sexually harass you on your way home, or that despicable girl stole your husband and wrecked your household in the process, or maybe that insensitive boy wouldn’t give you the MRT seat when you’re a girl! Unbelievable! (Rolling my eyes at this) If you think about it, yes they definitely deserve to be exposed (Not the MRT boy though, that’s just petty), but if you think about it again, hmmm, not so much. If these people were criminals, I would say it is an overkill if you post about them on social media.
Would it make you happy if you let the whole world read about that person’s mistake, or possibly their worst one at that? This is a form of humiliation; you let people bash them and call them names more than they deserve. Even if this were sports with rules and regulations, it would still be unfair. It would be one person versus thousands of people. Social media is built to connect people, not to disconnect them—at least remember that when you feel the urge to embarrass someone on it.
So, what does this mean? Here’s an advice: You confront that person personally. You keep it between the two of you ’cause involving people who don’t know a thing won’t solve the problem. I’m sure you can think of other ways to deal with that person without bringing the battlefield on social media and becoming the victim who becomes the bully. That’s so cheap.
On the other hand, I understand why people post their misfortunes for the world to see; some of them may have acted on their emotions, or maybe they just wanted to spread awareness, but I’ll leave you with this quote by R.J. Palacio to ponder on when you feel like you’ve been mistreated and need to let people know about it: When given the choice between being kind or being right, choose the first.
(edited by Jay Paul Carlos, additional research by Vince Villarin)