I’m guessing that most people will have seen Wentworth Millers (Prison Break actor) thought provoking response to the meme he was in and much as I applaud him for doing it I fear that it will make not one jot of difference to the way people are named and shamed by memes/photos on social media or of how the press treat people.
I have to say that it is one of the main reasons I do not buy or read magazines or newspapers in general because of what I see as the distasteful way they report/ depict, shame and generally belittle people. I am also quite horrified at how people clamour for the celebrity gossip when the people concerned appear to me to be hounded for photos and information that is personal and report it. The idea of the worst dressed people list makes my skin crawl and yet there they are all over the place for events. I’m even less impressed with the who’s gotten fat or who’s too skinny. Not really sure what people are wanting to achieve with them but still it seems people clamour for it.
I just hate it and much as I hope it will never be me I know full well that being overweight as I am, it may just make me the butt of someone elses captioned picture. I feel the worlds gone mad with it and the all too cavalier way people say ‘well that’s how it is when you’re a star’ is frustrating because more and more it’s not about whether someone is a star or not; it’s about a quick laugh at a strangers expense. People take the picture on their phone and share it on social media and hey presto someone is immortalised. It was only the other day I spotted a photo of a large lady in shorts and crop top, on my feed with the caption, ‘weathers getting warmer get ready for some frights in skimpy outfits.’ They would never have said it to the person concerned because that would have been rude/ cruel, so why the photo on facebook?
But here’s the thing if you put it on social media whether it’s private or not you cannot control what people will do with it and realistically they could quite easily ‘share it’ and then someone else could do the same and then a whole heap more people and so….is it really private just because it’s your friends you shared it with.
So really guys have a care none of us want to be publicly named and shamed in such a way. I mean seriously consider that many people who are overweight don’t want to go to the gym because they fear peoples laughter!
It has always seemed to me that when such things happen people just shrug or feel it’s funny but I don’t and ignoring it isn’t an option. I don’t want to be the butt of someone elses joke no matter how much weight I need to loose or how unfashionable I may be. Realistically I worry that when so many people keep passing on this stuff that no one really has any respect left for how people feel, either their own feelings or anyone elses.
Are we all fair game, because I had far too much of this when I was a child and back then the people doing it were considered bullies. They were chastised and reminded that it was cruel and unnecessary and they should stop hurting other people. Yet here we are with people gone mad poking fun at strangers without impunity.
I have felt that people feel that it won’t get to the person but really that shouldn’t matter. All I feel is that if they would be so cruel to a stranger when they feel they won’t get caught, what do they say about me when they feel they won’t get caught and it makes me think twice about whether I really like them. We all say stuff sometimes that’s not nice or even cruel but I feel it shouldn’t be shared on social media. It’s not funny, it’s not private and it can have a devastating effect on the person.
It’s all your worst nightmares rolled into one with no means of escape, day after day after day. And even once it’s stopped it will take a very long time to feel that it won’t happen again. Not everybody just shrugs and everything is okay. When you feel shame doesn’t it lower your mood, you feel bad? Well consider if this continued for days and or months it would bring you mood so low wouldn’t it.
Everyone has a different reaction but eventually being humiliated routinely brings on extreme emotional distress, for instance behavioural issues, depression, anxiety… to name but a few so why do it. You have no idea when you share that picture or comment whether it will or will not get to the person or whether they will have to put up with it for months and months so please don’t.
I have to say that it is one of the main reasons I do not buy or read magazines or newspapers in general because of what I see as the distasteful way they report/ depict, shame and generally belittle people. I am also quite horrified at how people clamour for the celebrity gossip when the people concerned appear to me to be hounded for photos and information that is personal and report it. The idea of the worst dressed people list makes my skin crawl and yet there they are all over the place for events. I’m even less impressed with the who’s gotten fat or who’s too skinny. Not really sure what people are wanting to achieve with them but still it seems people clamour for it.
I just hate it and much as I hope it will never be me I know full well that being overweight as I am, it may just make me the butt of someone elses captioned picture. I feel the worlds gone mad with it and the all too cavalier way people say ‘well that’s how it is when you’re a star’ is frustrating because more and more it’s not about whether someone is a star or not; it’s about a quick laugh at a strangers expense. People take the picture on their phone and share it on social media and hey presto someone is immortalised. It was only the other day I spotted a photo of a large lady in shorts and crop top, on my feed with the caption, ‘weathers getting warmer get ready for some frights in skimpy outfits.’ They would never have said it to the person concerned because that would have been rude/ cruel, so why the photo on facebook?
Is it only humiliation when the person sees it?
But here’s the thing if you put it on social media whether it’s private or not you cannot control what people will do with it and realistically they could quite easily ‘share it’ and then someone else could do the same and then a whole heap more people and so….is it really private just because it’s your friends you shared it with.
NO it isn’t because once a friend interacts with it, it goes onto their feed and all their friends get it too and twitter is pretty much all public unless you direct message.
So really guys have a care none of us want to be publicly named and shamed in such a way. I mean seriously consider that many people who are overweight don’t want to go to the gym because they fear peoples laughter!
It has always seemed to me that when such things happen people just shrug or feel it’s funny but I don’t and ignoring it isn’t an option. I don’t want to be the butt of someone elses joke no matter how much weight I need to loose or how unfashionable I may be. Realistically I worry that when so many people keep passing on this stuff that no one really has any respect left for how people feel, either their own feelings or anyone elses.
Are we all fair game, because I had far too much of this when I was a child and back then the people doing it were considered bullies. They were chastised and reminded that it was cruel and unnecessary and they should stop hurting other people. Yet here we are with people gone mad poking fun at strangers without impunity.
I have felt that people feel that it won’t get to the person but really that shouldn’t matter. All I feel is that if they would be so cruel to a stranger when they feel they won’t get caught, what do they say about me when they feel they won’t get caught and it makes me think twice about whether I really like them. We all say stuff sometimes that’s not nice or even cruel but I feel it shouldn’t be shared on social media. It’s not funny, it’s not private and it can have a devastating effect on the person.
Don’t believe me?
It’s all your worst nightmares rolled into one with no means of escape, day after day after day. And even once it’s stopped it will take a very long time to feel that it won’t happen again. Not everybody just shrugs and everything is okay. When you feel shame doesn’t it lower your mood, you feel bad? Well consider if this continued for days and or months it would bring you mood so low wouldn’t it.
Everyone has a different reaction but eventually being humiliated routinely brings on extreme emotional distress, for instance behavioural issues, depression, anxiety… to name but a few so why do it. You have no idea when you share that picture or comment whether it will or will not get to the person or whether they will have to put up with it for months and months so please don’t.
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