We've all had problems with others at some point in our lives. Life is not perfect and misunderstandings are bound to happen. "Finstas," or fake Instagram accounts, are used to vent about our day or express emotions with no filter. While using Snapchat and Instagram to express your personality and interact with people on a wider scale is beneficial and empowering, it should not be used to post hateful, negative, and crude remarks about specific people and their situations, especially when you would not say it in person.
Shaming people on Snapchat or Instagram is much easier than shaming them face-to-face. Our phones screens act as a protective barrier, only showing our thoughts through the letters on the keyboard. I've seen brutal comments online about people, and them not even having the courage to look each other in the eye when encountering each other. This is childish, and its time to grow up and confront our problems. Posting derogatory remarks on social media about other people creates unnecessary drama and is just attention seeking. It makes the situation much worse than it is.
Posting your beef with a person online exposes it to tens, if not hundreds of people who have nothing to do with the situation, and do not need to know about it. There is always at least two sides to a story. Posting negative remarks about the person makes their life harder because now hundreds of people who may not even know them, will have a bias against that person, just because they have only seen one side of the story. For instance, every time we talk about someone behind their back to someone else, that person gains a negative impression of the person being talked about.
There are simple ways to prevent this problem. Just talk to the person! Many problems are caused by a lack of understanding or miscommunication. If you never gain the courage to confront, you will most likely not be able to work through your problem. Confronting the issue is the best possible way to resolve it. If it still doesn't work, seek advice from someone else that you trust. But don't spread unnecessary drama. Posting mean and hurtful comments about people on social media is cyberbullying. Social media is a powerful tool that should be used to empower each other and learn new things, not put each other down.
