I need to preface today’s column by letting you know I’m going to use the word preface several times.
I’ve noticed an increase in the use of that seven-letter word in the past year or so on social media but not in a way that seems good to me.
Perhaps you’ve seen the p-word used as well since most of us are on social media. In fact, eight out of 10 Americans said they used social media in 2021, a number that probably doesn’t surprise any of us. I can only think of one person in my immediate family who isn’t online daily.
While I don’t spend a lot of time on social media, I do log-on to a handful of apps on my phone to keep up to date on the news and what’s happening with friends and family members. My iPhone tells me that I log about an hour a day of screen time on social media apps, which I think is probably a bit on the low side compared to most adults my age.
One of the reasons I choose not to spend much more time on social media is because how frequently it seems that others choose to fly off the handle as they become enraged at a comment someone has posted. And I’m not talking about those comments that others post trying to get a response.
Instead, I’ve been shocked at how often simple social media posts tend to cause others to respond sharply or angrily for no apparent reason.
Let me give you an example. I’ll preface this example by saying I’m going to talk about my 2-year-old dog Santiago.
When my wife and I became dog owners a couple of years ago, I started following a group on Facebook for golden retriever owners around the world. I thought we might learn some tips and tricks as we prepared to bring a pup home for the first time.
Now let me preface this next comment by saying we have learned a great deal and still are. In fact, I take a look at the posts every day in that group and the majority of them are helpful and informative. I’ve been surprised, however, at the number of people in the group who begin their posts by writing, “Let me preface this by saying …” before they post a question or seek advice.
“Let me preface this by saying we are working with our vet,” one post said.
“I want to preface this by saying he is crate trained,” another user posted before asking a question to the group.
“Let me preface this by saying I have a lot of anxiety,” a different user wrote before posing a question.
That’s a lot of prefacing just to ask a simple question about a dog in a Facebook group created to share pictures, ask questions and learn from each other.
At first it surprised me that so many people began their posts this way until I started reading some of the comments from other users back to the person who posted the original question or statement. I recall one post in which a man posted that he had named his dog Brees after the former NFL quarterback Drew Brees. He posted later how shocked he was at the number of rude comments simply because of posting his dog’s name.
It seems a lot of people out there get up on the wrong side of the bed each day, as their cruel comments certainly make you see why people think they need to ask ahead of time for kindness.
Let me preface this final thought by saying for every one cruel comment you see on social media, there are a plethora of posts that are not. It does seem, however, that a growing number of us who use social media might want to take a few minutes to reflect on the Golden Rule.
Inflation may be at a 40-year high, but kindness still costs nothing.
jdpeeper2@hotmail.com
