I’ve been feeling super frustrated with Instagram lately…some of the posts I see on the “popular” tab are really offensive and hurtful. I would imagine that some of what I’m seeing could really hurt feelings and/or traumatize both youth and adults. Memes (humorous image usually with text, spread rapidly via social media) are everywhere these days and while some of them are quite hilarious, others are downright shocking. While I realize that the internet is a vast world of free speech and information sharing, I think that something needs to be said about how far we have pushed the limits on this. I’ve seen posts that joke about stealing from a deceased grandmother’s medicine cabinet, posts poking fun at school shooting and posts encouraging kids to take drugs based on the fact that they destroy short term memory. THIS IS NOT FUNNY AND NOT OK. How have we, as a society, become so crass and so complacent? If we care about our kids and about each other, we can’t let such dark things be turned into jokes. I’m not sure how to go about addressing this issue, but I welcome any feedback from the community. I use social media every day and think it can be such a great resource for staying connected and informed. How can we take a stand against the negativity that is so pervasive?
– Kate