On the web, there are no neutral corners

Neutral-Corners

Sometimes I feel disheartened by the back-stabbing, invective, toxicity, and rumor-mongering I see among fellow bloggers.

Of course this is not a “blogger problem.” It is a human problem. Anger, pettiness, jealousy … all this stuff has been there forever. It simply gets amplified by the web. An October study by Pew showed that 40 percent of online adults have experienced some form of online hate or harassment. We have turned avery good thing into a cesspool.

When we engage with people on social media, every single interaction is an opportunity to lift people up or put them down.

There are no neutral corners.

If you are a person who lives to take people down, it will eventually lead to distrust, even among those you believe to be allies. And that whole toxic drama scene just seems exhausting to me. Why do this, my friends?

If you want to be seen as a leader, then lead. Don’t be a person who enables pettiness and hate. Leaders dispense hope.

We are in a big, big world. There is room for everybody to succeed. There is room for diversity, difference, and disagreement without feeling threatened.

This is traditionally a time when we reflect and consider what the New Year will bring. I urge you to make the choice to be a leader and lift people up. There are no neutral corners.

Thanks for listening. You may continue with your regularly scheduled programming.

Illustration by Sarah Mason. Copyright 2014 Schaefer Marketing Solutions..

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