Let holidays inspire kindness, respect and love on social media that lasts all year long

Does social media bring out the best in you, or the worst?

For many people, it's the latter, unfortunately. And we see it every day on our social media accounts, even around the holidays.

Insults, name-calling, shaming, victim blaming. Behavior we can't imagine anyone displaying to others face-to-face. But from behind a computer, these keyboard warriors are bold, relentless and downright cruel.

We see it with all types of stories - crashes, deaths, crimes and even restaurant openings. Somehow, people find a way to criticize a new family-run restaurant before it has opened its doors. We could cite some examples, but we will refrain from repeating the hate and negativity we read in the comments.

Every year, we hope that hate speech will take a reprieve around the holidays, but that rarely happens.

We hope that people think of impressionable kids in their lives and what sort of example they are setting when they are unkind to others on social media.

And we had hoped Elon Musk would make the right decision with banned Twitter accounts, but that doesn't seem to be the case.

Just last month, Musk announced that he will unban previously banned accounts, like Jordan Peterson, a professor who was banned for misgendering a trans person.

"The mass return of users who had been banned for such offenses as violent threats, harassment and misinformation will have a significant impact on the platform, experts said," according to The Washington Post.

Lovely, right?

So the bullies are back. And the problem with bullies - besides the hate and garbage they spew - is they damage quality interpersonal engagement. They scare off the casual Facebook commenter. They criticize a business for no good reason. Or they use shame to make a parent feel even worse about the loss of a child.

And who wants to be in a Twitter thread or Facebook comments with people like that? Would you hang out with those people at a party? Would you spend time with people who bait you into conversations you don't want to have, only to be attacked and ridiculed? Our advice - Ignore the hate. Rise above it. Be better.

We do our part on social media to get rid of the bullies for good. We want to keep conversations civil and debates respectful. We want to attract people who have productive things to say or helpful questions to ask.

We hope you'll remember what the holiday season is all about, and that it will inspire you and others to have a positive impact on your online behavior this year. And we hope it carries over into 2023 with a new start and a new attitude about how we treat one another - both from behind a keyboard and in person, face-to-face.

Maybe you've heard the expression, "Humankind. Be both."

We couldn't agree more.