I don’t really write in the format made for modern blogs, mostly because I don’t care who reads this. So I’ll avoid the single sentence paragraphs that are so common, these are simply my thoughts, oh well.

I participate in social media to an extent but am more like a ghost. I end up observing alot more than interacting. I’ve always had a love/hate relationship with social media, mainly because people often complain about privacy concerns yet willingly give away everything they are doing, which to me sounds like the antithesis of privacy. Even though I share many thoughts on this blog, I’m not a huge fan of reporting everything I’m up, both good and bad. It doesn’t bother me that people do this and ultimately if someone really wants to know about you, even before the Internet, a private investigator could most likely get a good idea of what you are doing.

I am seeing a trend where people are sharing very opinionated items and I understand the idea. Usually it’s something emotional, especially politics, and the idea is that you want others to feel as you do. If only such a fantasy world existed :/ I see this as a growing problem as I enjoy having others with different views around me in person but not on social media. I’ve muted or de-friended people who I didn’t agree with mostly because I was tired of having extreme viewpoints shoved into my face, it simply triggered my emotions too much to enjoy my experience. I regret doing this now. I imagine someone  . Ironically I find this separates people more than it truly connects them. It seems now more than ever you have this echo chamber where people are just sharing things everyone in their community agrees with; I even see people write: unfriend me but I support this or that. That’s a shame.

I lived in Texas for several years and really enjoyed my time there. I tended to, and still disagree extremely with people from Texas on political views. I did, however, have a great experience there and made some close friends. I think both of us learned that when you put your views aside you can get along and it’s interesting to experience the viewpoint of another person.

I find this also leads to how people are observed. Perhaps it’s my head but I find there is a human being and then there is a social media being; the 2 being quite different. Often when I meet someone face to face, they are far different from their social media being and suddenly I realize I had them all wrong. This is not the case with all but some.

We get upset about mass shootings and Donald Trumps because it’s things out of our hands that bother us. The thing is, we’ll never be able to stop mass shootings, car accidents, or other events and although we can vote, the outcomes of elections are tied to a few states. I’m registered to vote in Connecticut, for example, so mine doesn’t matter really. While all of this is going on, there are people in our communities, even in our own families who could use the energy we are putting into trying to change people’s minds.

This is the preachy part. I feel that people who share alot of these articles have good intentions, and deep down good hearts. In my view, I would try to focus effort and energy on areas within the community or family that help could be needed. The main reason is that by providing help, you are making a tangible difference and will come away feeling alot better for it. Ultimately, this is something you have control over, but trying to change someone’s mind on an emotional viewpoint is far more difficult. Even being there to listen to someone, as simple as it sounds, can make a world of difference. I’m no saint but this is something I’ve been trying to focus on.