I've thought it before, but this video is more proof. Social media turns people into psychopaths. Or rather, it brings out the most psychopathic, toxic traits in people.
This brand owner messed up, immediately apologized and fixed the mistake, but still received death threats and a tirade of vile messages, all over insufficiently filled lip gloss.
People have literally gone insane, lost the plot and all connection to reality.
It's the same vile behavior we have seen in fandoms again and again. People are angry at some perceived (and sometimes valid) injustice, and then react in a way they would never dare to in real life. They hide behind the anonymity of the internet, but more so, they lose sight of their opponent being a real, breathing human being - whether that human being is a rich and influential TV producer, or a CEO of a (small) beauty brand, or a fellow fan.
People are, through the distance social media creates, genuinely losing that grasp of reality. It's all just a bunch of words; it's easily and quickly typed and sent.
More so, social media 'bubbles' can create the impression of togetherness and community; many similarly disappointed and frustrated people will rile each other up and encourage each other to express their - in their perception righteous - anger. Instead of realizing that such entitlement would not fly in real life and therefore probably shouldn't fly in online life either, people remain in that toxic microcosm where they do not need to examine their stances or be confronted with healthy amounts of conflict and healthy ways of dealing with it.
I say that as someone who is on social media and wants to remain so, but last year's ship war in my main fandom 9-1-1, as well as many smaller, individual experiences and incidents of people behaving in such reality-detached ways have made me take a few steps back and put up boundaries again. They have reminded me that, while many things feel big, important and very real on the internet, for the most part they are not real. Friendships online are rarely true and lasting, communities can fall apart quickly, or they can turn from fun to immensely toxic, extremely fast.
Anyway, just a small personal 'rant', or analysis, if you will. If you ever feel like things are becoming toxic around you in the online communities you frequent, it is time to remind yourself of this fact: online life is not real life. It never will be. Please take care of your real one, your real human interactions, and when you're online, not only protect yourself from toxic influences but watch yourself and don't let the flow drag you away into a cesspool of toxicity.
