No, stranger on the internet, I will not come over
I love to foster new relationships on social media. Words of affirmation is one of my love languages. But please, please, please recognize what is clearly over the line of what is considered appropriate. Why in the world do you think a self-respecting woman like myself would want to come over to your house, stranger? Why do you think it's okay to tell me you love me? To send me a shirtless pic? To get angry and call me the c-word when I deny your invitation to talk about a story over lunch, a story that you refuse to tell me anything about.
They're not new. I've worked in the television news industry for more than a decade so I'm not shocked when I see them.
But I am surprised that they haven't diminished. Sure, social media puts us in direct contact with people, but it has also spotlights this issue, so it baffles me that people still do it.
I have met many different people in this job, including people my life might not otherwise touch. I have interacted with people with severe mental illness and other issues that might not be clearly visible upon first glance. Years ago, I was a viewer's final call before he committed suicide. I received the message on my work phone days later but confirmed his death with the sheriff's office. No matter how awful someone is being to me, I can deal with them directly, I don't need to throw them to the social media wolves. I've also seen that sometimes some added attention is exactly what the person wants. Some seem to feed off of it.
So please respect that while I want to talk about why this isn't okay, I don't want to be the person to put their name out there. Again, I respect others who do want to do this.
And really, showing a photo or a name oversimplifies the problem to one example, and it's not one person or one comment or one photo, it's a collective issue. And together we need to say it's not okay.
