We live in a world of information, but do we need to reveal it to everyone? People overshare information or ask far too much like an interrogation. How did this become normal? I can’t help but point the finger at the internet for warping manners with it’s insatiable greed for more data. Most people don’t listen to understand, but to judge-like social media. Why do you give a shit what a total stranger thinks of you and vise versa? We are suspicious of the government spying on us yet casually share our personal information with anyone without a hint of paranoia.
People love their cameras, pointing them at everything, recording unfiltered. I personally have never liked videos of people being pranked, ridiculed, or potentially injured as entertainment. Selfies are self centeredness at it’s worst. People record events instead of being present.
Do we really need to report everything without thinking of the consequences? Consider this the next time you take a picture, video or text about something goofy, embarrassing or personal. You don’t need to share it with the world.
I was at a the county fair and saw some teenagers sitting at a picnic table with a very large plush dog someone obviously won, I thought it amusing and asked politely if I could take a picture. They said sure but I made sure most of the faces were turned away to protect their identity. A professional photographer has to get permission from a subject before publishing a photo. Ask first, it’s polite and let’s them know what’s going on.
Then there are the correction zealots. They point out the slightest fault of speech, grammar or facts. Sometimes we fumble momentarily, forget or just don’t care how Kamala is pronounced. Unless you’re speaking directly to said person it’s not terribly important. People think they are doing a favor or showing off their intellect but it’s just snobbish. If you must correct, do so discretely to avoid embarrassment.
Social insecurity has reached epic levels in the way people overreact to provocation, real or imagined. Loudly proclaiming one’s opinion as fact is nothing new but the backlash is appallingly out of proportion. Responding with anger, vulgarity or threats is not showing them up or being superior it’s pouring gas on a fire. When you think about something you just read or heard and jump to reply, ask yourself-am I contributing to the conversation or judging? You don’t have to put down others to feel better about yourself. We don’t own anyone an explanation of how we live our lives. We forgot that amidst all the sharing.
Miss Manners said it best “One of the biggest sorrows in America is that people want to retaliate against rudeness with rudeness. One of my main missions in life is to say, no, there is no excuse for rudeness.” Frankly, I think a Miss Manners book should be required reading before entering adulthood. There are just so many things we get wrong.
It’s time we resist the urge to the judge and allow others to express themselves however they want without taking it personal and hopefully they will do the same for us.
2 comments:
Let's hear it for civility.
One description i found.... "The existence of civility creates and preserves an environment for mutual respect."
This is what is sorely needed in our communication skills, these days.
It almost feels like there needs to be an agreement at the beginning.
Very well said Alisa; it's beyond appalling the nastiness of responses that show up in social media comments
People should just agree to disagree, be respectful of others opinions, and not make it a platform for fighting and arguing: pointless!
Politeness, courtesy, and true efforts to communicate should also be required learning
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