On Kindness, Politics, and Social Media

PSA:  This is important to me, so I'm writing about it.  I make no claims to speak for anyone else but myself. I am just one person trying to make sense of a crazy world just as much as anyone else is.  Maybe it will help you to read my thoughts and maybe it won't.  

tl;dr :  Let's all be kind to each other and create safe spaces where we can share disagreeing viewpoints without being hurtful towards each other.  

Social media is a strange space. Everyone uses the space in different ways, ones that are too myriad and idiosyncratic to all list.

Typically I have used the Facebook platform to keep up to date with what's happening in the lives of friends and family, to share various photos and other things I find interesting, or to keep in touch with the communities of various specific-interest groups that I belong to (eg. local geocaching groups, Ontario birding, etc). 

Lately I have been sharing a lot of information about current changes in the political landscape in the province that are directly affecting some of the most vulnerable families in our province. These changes are also very worrisome for the future of my chosen profession, and my colleagues and friends are concerned on a number of levels.

In the past I have shied away from posting anything with the potential of being controversial on social media, because I know how quickly things can escalate in a landscape that is largely posturing and where we are disconnected from the very human people behind the words we use.

However, some of the current issues are simply too important to me to stay quiet about.  A Facebook page is like a home, in a way - I say and do whatever I like in my own home, and you are free to leave if you do not like it.  But you are also quite welcome to stay if you disagree with me.

In other words, I will never "unfriend" you if you voted for someone that I do not like.  You are welcome in my space, even if your views are entirely different than mine.  You can comment, you can debate, you can show me facts and statistics and respond to my reasoned arguments with reasoned arguments of your own.  I have very dear friends with strong political views that occasionally verge on being completely opposite to mine.  We debate heatedly, but we also listen to each other very carefully, with complete respect, and occasionally we change each other's minds, or at least make us think about something we never would have otherwise considered.  This is the beauty of living in a democracy.  

When politics becomes polarizing, part of people's intimate identities and even quasi-religious (on BOTH the left and the right), it bewilders me.   But I will never close the door and not listen to your voice just to make myself more comfortable.  There are certain things that I value very highly, and this is one of them.  Occasionally people cross my social-media path who others would perhaps "block" or "unfriend" without a second thought.  And, to be fair, if you come into my home (whether my actual home or my personal social media space) and you insult or bully or are otherwise aggressive towards myself or people I care about, I won't tolerate that.

But if you want to come into my space and disagree with me, tell me why you think my ideas are faulty, show me another side of an argument I may not have considered, share your views with me even if they are completely opposite to mine - you are welcome.  I'll even make you a cup of tea, and we can talk.  And debate.  And argue.  And still care for each other as human beings.

So, I have a simple request:

I will continue posting pretty much whatever I am inclined to post on my social media platforms.  Instagram tends to have more pretty pictures, Twitter tends to be almost entirely politics, this blog is largely travel writing and other musings, and Facebook will continue to be a jumble of all of those things.

If you find you don't agree with something, or want to say a viewpoint that might be unpopular, you are always, always welcome. My only request is that you remember, before hitting "enter", that your words are being said to real people. So think about how you would say it if they were in front of you.  Think about how to disagree and still be kind.  Still acknowledge that whoever you're talking to is human, and just as scared and confused and worried about the world as you are.

I want my home, whether the physical or virtual manifestations of it, to be a safe place for others.  

So, I'll keep sharing, and you keep commenting.  If you disagree, I will hear you, and I'll probably disagree back. Maybe you'll change my mind.  Maybe I'll change yours.  Maybe none of that will happen, but we'll both develop a deeper understanding of the others' viewpoint.  

Be kind to each other out there.