Curing the Butt-hurt...

Namastè!

Happy Tuesday, my tribe.

I may have cured an anonaly, a problem that has plagued us all for years on social media.

The butt-hurt brigade. The offended elite!

People can be who and what they want. This is both wonderful and tragic.

It's wonderful because some people choose to come online and be bright, shining beacons of all that is right with humanity. They give the guidance, support, and humor that some of us don't get elsewhere. While we only know them online, they are true light in a dark world.

...but there's that tragic side also. *sighs* There exists a low echelon of humans who get online with the sole purpose of rousing rabbles, ruffling feathers, and raising a damn ruckus.

They're the few. They're the mad. They're the BUTT-HURT.

*insert serious Tayè side eye, copious amounts thereof*

The problem with the butt-hurt brigade is that they are offended by any and everything. Post any status, on any site, with any intent, and they will be there to let you know they are highly offended.

But sometimes, the butt-hurt isn't necessarily intentional.

People simply don't read anymore.

One social media app I frequent does not have voice or video capability on the main feed. It's legit words and pictures. Moms post how and what they think, and share photos.

It's actually pretty fun, provided no one gets their panties in a twist.

But oh, how the wedgies do roll.

On a site where only text and photos available, the only way to indicate tone would be to literally take a selfie of your face with each response. (It's the same faceless communication as text messaging and email, and has the same benefits and detriments.)

Great idea, said no one ever.

In a situation where tone is only at best implied, coupled with people's tendency to skim for buzzwords and react accordingly versus reading an entire post, this is a recipe for disaster.

PEOPLE DO NOT READ TO UNDERSTAND...THEY READ TO REPLY!

As I said before, people skim for buzzwords and react accordingly.

But if you only skim for the buzzwords, you miss other things, including but not limited to, the point the writer is making. Which means you didn't react accordingly at all--you just reacted. Probably improperly, at that.

Example: I used the word "butt-hurt" several times so far. Instead of seeing what the meat of the matter is, someone somewhere will probably fire off a response about the mommy blogger with the bad mouth. Which actually proves my point here--but still.

The simple cure?

Read.

Read again, if the first run didn't give you clarity.

Read once more, to confirm.

Then reply accordingly, if at all.

The point of social media is to be social, with the media (text, photos, music, video) people put out. We control our own content, as long as it's within the guidelines of the website in which we're interacting.

WE. CONTROL. OUR. OWN. CONTENT.

But no one else's.

Therefore the butt-hurt could be assuage by either reading to understand versus reading to reply...

...or simply not replying at all.

I prefer the latter myself. I don't have a dog in every fight, nor do I want to. Sometimes scrolling on by is the best way to avoid offending. (I'm not offended by other people's social media posts--my skin ain't that thin.) Just a swift AVOID.

If I see a person is deliberately baiting for controversy or grabbing at straws for attention, I avoid them even quicker. I don't like babysitting other people's breakdowns and I don't like wasting an attempt at comfort when all they want is a pat on the head. Rather than tell the truth, which would be considered judging or being mean by today's skewed standards, I just flutter by like an unbothered butterfly.

...because I'm just that. Unbothered. I effect a cure for butt-hurt by being my little unbothered self, and staying in the ranks of other unbothered selves.

Namastè!

-- Tayè K. ♡