Social Media Personality Disorder?

Do you ever wonder how and why some people come on social media and quickly get on freak mode? They take on a new personality; an alter ego of sorts, as if the web were an alternate reality and a different set of rules applied to human behavior online; there is no decorum, no conscience and absolutely no restraint to their behavior. When they are here anything goes; they stalk, they make contributions to subjects they know nothing about, and they redirect traffic from ‘sensible’ to ‘chaos central’. They are as ignorant as they are obnoxious! They cannot be contained and they most certainly cannot be reasoned with. And in honest terms, they are why you don’t like coming online sometimes. You know those people right?

They are called many things; web trolls, cyber-bullies, the dark ones, but whatever they are called, they only do one thing; they make trouble online! They are everywhere and they don’t understand or speak English as you and I do; they speak it as a language of the future. They are fluent in three international languages; confusion, hate and mischief. They are a different human species and they can only get along with their kind!

You wonder; is it the social media that denatures people when they come online or do they actually bring their sadism with them to this huge but frail cyber space to meet with other people. Are they good people in real life and only lose control when they suffer the debilitating effects of using the web. And while they are adrift are we to assume that they are like zombies; largely clueless of everything else?

It’s simple really, surfing in the virtual world doesn’t make us robots; it doesn’t change who we are; we surf as persons and all that we are; intelligent, emotional, complicated and all.  Life in the real world is full of crazies; the virtual world is not any different. In fact, sometimes people are worse when they are online because they can be themselves without any holds barred; not needing to hide one’s face in shame after goofing is quite liberating!

We’ve all had an experience with this kind of people that has left a bitter taste in the mouth; you have at one time probably come online with good in your heart and only said the obvious as humanely possible as you could and they made it out into something else; making you second guess yourself and the purpose of your sharing. Are they for real? How can they be so callous? Do they only joy in mischief? Or do they have a problem and need help? Aha! Is it vaguely possible this is a psychological problem they have?

If we’ve learnt anything about bullies at all, it is that beneath all that mischief and callousness is a deep seated feeling of insecurity and fear; they fear your guts, they are intimidated by your sense of purpose and they want what you have! They would not say it even if their lives depended on it but they actually really envy you; if you could see into their souls and their feeble thought processes you’d feel sorry for them; inside them, it’s dark, cold and miserable; they need you!

Once you have these in perspective you will not be so hurt anymore. You will redirect your energy from getting offended to trying to help. Stay focused. Be undaunted. If there is any purpose to what you are doing on social media, if it’s beneficial to mankind; albeit simple, if it’s meaningful, don’t let anyone deter you. Dish it out fresh and wholesome. Don’t be afraid of telling the truth. People need to hear it, especially your naysayers.

Have you brushed shoulders with anyone with SMPD lately? Let us know how you handled it! We’d love to hear from you.