I have been living inside a social media bubble all this time.

First I joined Facebook, where I was pretty well protected, being surrounded by my friends. Then Pinterest - that didn't go very well, but no direct attacks. After that was Steemit, where people are for the most part civil with each other.

Everyone I interacted with online seemed kind of like this to me until recently...

Lately though, I have been a little bolder in my expression, and I have been getting some backlash from people who just go out of their way to be mean.

Instance #1: I shared this

I don't say much about vaccines, but a few days ago, when I did, my cousin made a remark. It would be one thing if she respectfully disagreed, but she was kind of sarcastic with me. It wouldn't have bothered me as much if it weren't for the fact that in all the years we have been "friends" on FB, she never made so much as one tiny comment on anything ever, no family pictures, nothing, yet she goes out of her way to say she's afraid of being less protected because she doesn't have as many vaccines as 6 month olds(How twisted is that?) and people like me are causing others to be sick. Thanks cousin! Glad to hear from you too!

Instance # 2:

I like learning about MBTI personality type theory. It has been of interest to me for several years now. My personality type I believe is infp. Now I was never very active in closed groups on FB, but when I searched for and found an infp group, I requested membership, and was accepted. 95% of the people there are really tactful and sweet to each other, but after spending some time there, I realized just how many trolls are everywhere! And not just on that group - I mean everywhere!

I shared this image the other day

The one person who commented said

Only those of shit character are messy.

Why would someone say that about a harmless inspirational quote?? She was new, and her profile was suspicious. A dozen black men were the only ones on her friend list, and she looked upper-class and white, claiming to be a banker, not to mention there was only one picture on her profile. Something just wasn't right. Why are there trolls with fake accounts going around spreading hate?

Instance #3

I don't know if they do this to all newcomers, but I was seriously roasted during my first day after joining an MBTI meme group. I shared a meme I made that did well on another group. Almost every single infp is confused at some point about the truth of their type. Many, many, many infps are conflicted, thinking that maybe they are really infjs. The two are hard to tell apart. I shared this homemade meme.

These were the comments:

"Gay"

"Worst meme ever."

"Cringe"

"Obviously, someone doesn't know her cognitive functions." (Then when I proved I knew about cognitive functions by sharing an article I wrote, she says, "The article is worse than the meme!")

It just went on and on in the comments, in fact it is still going on.

Instance #4

I expressed disapproval for our new governor in a news article, and I was attacked because of my appearance, being called cross eyed.

My bubble burst, before I was somewhat naïve about how nasty people can be. I guess it didn't really impact me until it happened personally. Now, I'm seeing people more like this.

People suck. Not the people on Steem. Other people. I'm feeling another hermit phase starting.

What do you think would happen if we could no longer downvote comments? Would we just collectively turn into a cesspool like other social media sites?

snowpea ❤

Images are either from me, or Facebook.