The Internet is One Mean Girl

In recent years I've noticed that people have become incredibly hostile on the internet.  It's almost like the internet has created this anonymous personality for people to hide behind and show their uglier sides.  You know what bothers me the most?  When people say that these bullying personalities have been in existence for a significant amount of time and then brush this off.

Take Instagram for instance.  Fans of celebrities or even popular bloggers think they have some right to demean people without any type of instigator.  So many people criticizing fitness professionals who are fitness competitors and calling them manly, ugly, revolting.  It's like the high school teenage girl syndrome all over again.  Every time I see these men and women post their progress, I think, that's awesome. 

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I simply don't understand why people think it's okay to be downright cruel to others.  I think the meanest I've ever been on the internet was whenever I've criticized bloggers' content and that was fueled by seeing consistent posts from people creating a lack of quality content and taking in an abundance of sponsors for products that had nothing to do with their lifestyle blogs.  I followed a friend's simple yet very wise advice and stopped following hundreds of blogs like this.  Regardless of those posts, it's not that I don't like those girls.  Never would I ever criticize how a girl looks, feels, acts, etc.  But people do that all of the time now.  My actions were based on the movement of vanity and greed that social media tends to inspire.  However, there is so much good out there.  There are people posting their health progress, beautiful pictures of their families, graduations, celebrations, etc.  With so much good, I don't see why people have to make it ugly.

You may have seen the image from Daddy Doin' Work blog of the author, a father, baby carrying his youngest and also brushing the hair of his other daughter.  It's a really wonderful picture.  Doyin posted this image to his blog's page to prove to his wife that he could handle carrying a fussy baby and fix his daughter's hair.  It became viral and got shared and shared again.  What people chose to comment on though was terrible.  They questioned his work ethic, the legitimacy of his children, and other very personal details- all of which are not true.  How from one picture of a dad brushing his daughter's hair stir up racial slurs and socioeconomic biases?  Doyin wrote on his blog, when the picture was published, "I have a dream that people will view a picture like this and not think it's such a big deal."  His goals in emphasizing that dads are just as much of the equation as moms is awesome.  He challenges other fathers out there to step up.

"Why don't you put big boy shorts on and get in on the revolution of good fathers?" Doyin inquired of his detractors, rhetorically. "It's not a good look to tear down dads for doing the work your wives wished you were man enough to do on your own. If you don't believe me, just ask your spouses. They'll tell you. But don't worry. I'll still be here whenever you're ready to step your game up and join #TeamGrownAssMan."

To read more about the image, check it out on Gawker. 

Doyin

Doyin

 

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