Recently I did a Facebook cleanse. I did it because I was oversharing about my life (promotions, getting a new car, moving, my daughter’s medical conditions/hospitalizations, etc.) and I also posted negative things at times. Sometimes I didn’t truly think these things but I posted them just because that’s what I was thinking at that exact moment. After 6 months, I returned back for a few hours and noticed a lot of the people on my friends list post the same type of things. I had to deactivate immediately because it made me uncomfortable.

On the other hand, I can see the positive aspects of social media. We can connect with friends and family. We can shine light on different world, country and community issues. We can uplift each other and ourselves in a multitude of ways. But sometimes I wonder if the negative aspects of social media outweigh the positive. Also, I feel like teens and young adults such as myself can be very irresponsible on social media and post things we regret terribly once we mature.

My question is, does social media ever bring out a negative or attention seeking side of you? Do you think it’s because you’re a negative person or because social media brings it out of you? For those of you that never make toxic comments or posts, do you ever have to resist this or does it come naturally?