I am afraid of social media.

I am afraid of social media.

There. I said it.

Why?

• I was fired for not aligning with my boss’s political aspirations.

33 years ago, I worked for a judge who was up for re-election. Everyone, except me, had a sign in their yard. Everyone, except me, was invited to his house for a Bar-B-Que. Why? I was friends with someone who was friends with his opponent. Never mind that I didn’t talk to my friend for over six months during the campaign so I wouldn’t “leak” secrets about my boss.

What did my neutrality get me in the end? Fired and friendless.

What recourse did I have?

The County attorney said I could sue and would probably get a settlement. What would that change?

Nothing.

So, I shut up and walked away.

• My 28-year-old daughter is constantly telling me a celebrity I like has been cancelled.

?Am I held responsible for my associations – every post that I give a thumbs up or heart?

?What if I post how much I like an actor, singer, or public figure that other people hate?

?I can’t count on my hands how many times I have been watching a movie only to find out that my favorite actor in it was a pedophile, rapist, sexist, racist, or other fill-in the blank atrocious human being.

?Could someone think I approve because of a long-forgotten “like”?

?So, I keep my “likes” and opinions to myself.

• ?There are about a billion people out there sharing their thoughts, knowledge and vision.

Why would anyone listen to me?

I don’t know anything. I have opinions. How can I be sure about what I think? Isn’t my brain biased?

Bold change agent, Talia Riser, calls LinkedIn a “competitive echo-chamber” and that sounds like my worse nightmare.

Am I really prepared to argue my point with someone – anyone – over some words? What if I am proven wrong? Will people think I am stupid? Probably. Am I okay with that? Well...

Is being quiet better? Probably not. Who does being quiet help?

• I don’t want to hurt anyone.

?I had a friend that posts on social media between 20 and 30 times a day. I ignored most of their posts because honestly, who has time for that!

?But that one time!

?That one time when they posted about someone “whining” about being abused by the public for being trans. I just couldn’t walk away from their long rant. I could see my child’s face and feel their pain. I had to say something.

?I wasn’t silent.

?I reminded them that though they had a right to their opinions, they were feeding society’s hate and fear. I challenged them to read how their own whining had only churned more bitter and dark as it milled down a ladder of not so hidden comments under their original post.

?Then, I sent a private message explaining how much the post hurt me and mine before unfriending them. Did my actions do any good? Probably not.

?Social Media Manager, Kalyani Kumari, says that you will get more likes if you help people. But my “friend’s” post got a lot of shares, comments, and likes.

?Did their post help anyone?

?It helped me to understand that social media can be a weapon, even if that’s not what it is intended to be.

?And that scares me.

?Being quiet scares me more, though.

?Holocaust survivor and author of Man’s Search for Meaning said…

So, I am afraid of social media.

But I choose to respond to the noise…

Because I am a workforce development specialist.

Because I work in Human Resources.

Because I am a mother.

Because there are too many people who are not heard.

Because people – real people, not just words, are trampled over in the stampede for likes.

Because sometimes you have to speak up to be heard over the noise.

I am not here for the likes.

I am here to help.

Are you??