As someone younger than pretty much every voter in the U.S., I feel like I shouldn’t be having to say this. But over this past election, I have seen so much hatred going on, and most of it coming from men and women much older than me. I was excited to finally be a part of something much bigger than I am. This election was something my new-adult self would be proud of participating in. l expected for my elders to set a positive example, but apparently I was wrong. Every time I got on any type of social media, there was so much hatred posted towards the other party. Being that these people had been through so many elections, I thought they may know something I didn’t.

The longer the election went on, the more hatred I saw. I saw family members, friends and colleagues take out their frustrations on social media. I don’t know if people think about what they post before they post it, but I’m guessing they don’t. The longer it went on, I saw that those older-than-us “millennials” had an impact on how we talked about opposite parties. By the end of the election, everyone was hating on the other parties and creating a hostile environment on social media.

As if we already don’t have to deal with enough hate on social media, this election added on to it. I found myself wanting to recuperate by sharing or retweeting something negative about the opposite party. But after a lot of consideration, I remembered how it had made me feel to see how people close to me thought about the party I showed support for.

I’m not trying to convict anyone of their “wrong doings,” but in a society that is full of negativity, I don’t believe we should add onto it. Think about what your posting, and who it affects before you do it. We should be working towards being more positive and setting an example for those younger than us. The generations under you will be no better than how you teach them to be. The millennials that everyone complains about had parents, grandparents and mentors that taught them how to respond to certain situations.

As we wait for the post election stress to wear off, think about how you want those you don’t agree with to act. If you aren’t acting that way, then think about staying off of social media for a while. As a nation, we should be coming together right now, but it feels as if we are falling apart. Think about those around you before you say something negative and be respectful. The longer we act as a divided nation, the harder it will be to come back together as one.