Like most of you, I am on social media. This week, Facebook informed me that I had joined their outfit nine years ago this week. It got me to thinking about how much has changed on the digital platform in that near decade.

I joined Facebook in 2009 because all the “cool kids” were giving up MySpace (remember that?) and my co-workers at the newspaper I was editor of at the time told me it was cool. So I wanted to be cool. Plus it was “advised” by my publisher at the time to join social media.

I had no clue how to operate it, join groups, play Candy Crush or find “friends.” Over time I became more engaged and made contact with people from my childhood I had not heard from in years. I became reacquainted with distant relatives I have not seen in decades. I found out I could connect with family members and stay in touch instantaneously.

Facebook seemed awesome and I even talked my parents into joining so they could keep up with the latest happenings from family and friends.

My Facebook “friends” seemed so excited to be connected with one another. It’s where I found out many of my high school friends had grown children and some were even grandparents.

But then something changed. Someone decided to discuss politics and religion and before I knew it, the happy place I could go to during a rough day in the real world had suddenly been overrun with hate, dissent and viciousness.

The civility that I had enjoyed slowly eroded. People who were life-long friends were now on “the otherside” and it didn’t take long for friendships to be ruined. 

It has gotten worse over the years and I find it hard to even enjoy Facebook. Recently, I decided I would no longer post on my Facebook wall, but rather post “non-offensive” things to my close family and friends.

I can count on one hand the number of Facebook friends I have “unfriended,” but there are several that I quit following on Facebook because of the hatred and constant bashing of people or political policies they don’t agree with.

I had a friend tell me this the other day: “We look at a six inch screen and say things to people we would never say to their face. They hide behind screens and degrade those that don’t believe like they do.”

How true is that. We have become a society of screens and believe we can say and do whatever we want. No wonder many of the children in today’s society believe it’s okay to take a high-powered weapon and shoot up their school and kill their classmates and teachers.

Rob Sigler is editor of The Vicksburg Post. Readers are invited to submit their opinions for publication.