The other night, I was enraged to see a hurtful hashtag which I took as bullying on Twitter. Long story short, I asked people to retweet a message to end hurtful hashtags and bullying.
The next day, I stated that only four people retweeted my message and I thought that was “sick” being that the hurtful hashtag was still going strong. It wasn’t a direct message to anyone in particular as I wrote a blog post along with it.
One very popular tweep within the women’s world, tweeted me and asked why would it be sick when she has 3,500 followers and her twitter feeds goes too fast? Well basically, I stated that I understood her statement but if she had read my blog post I did in fact reflect that a very popular twitter party was taking place at the time. (I neglected to write that it was a Friday night and many people were not online). However, despite of that, I did hashtag #bullying, and the hashtag in question, so more than my followers would see it.
Again, she reiterated her point again about her twitter feed and her phone. I’m a little unsure if it was friendly banter or an unfriendly gesture. I thanked her for her point and wished her a good day, instead of getting my back up.
However, what I found the most curious is that this person STILL didn’t retweet my message about bullying but did comment on another bullying post, written by a yet another popular tweep. I thought to myself, if I was going to tango with someone about something so silly, wouldn’t I retweet the importance of the message afterward?
If I have to tussle with a tweep to do my part to stop bullying, then count me in.
I very rarely step in when someone has an opinion as I believe we all have a right to our own opinion. My life’s mantra is agree to disagree.
Honestly, even though I am unscathed by the incident, I do question Twitter as I see this happening too often. If an outsider comments on something, they best be prepared for backlash. Yes, I’m an outsider in many ways, I acknowledge it, and move onward and upward. The unique thing about Social Media is that you can have YOUR voice, and that there is more ways than “the popular one” to be successful.
I’m a pretty cool chick in real life, who holds no prejudice, works hard, and expects the same respect from everyone as I give to them. I do not gravitate towards the popular person or vote because it’s not authentic, and it really doesn’t get you ahead in the end! My online life is no different.
The great thing about this altercation is that I met another woman (the other blog poster) whose child went through the suffering of bullying as well. We had a nice chat because we had common ground. In the end, I have to thank this woman.
