It saddens me that this is something that needs to be addressed.

Also, it shocks me that this is the second time I’ve felt the need to bring this up in less than a year.

The other night I was going through my Instagram notifications and I noticed someone had tagged me in the comments of a random photo… hmmm. I quickly looked at the photo and gave it a like since it was a sweet photo of a momma and her little one but didn’t give much thought into why I was tagged in the comments. I was being distracted by my hangry children so it wasn’t until I had the time to continue scrolling though my notifications that I saw this same person had tagged me and a few other ladies in a condescending comment on someone else’s page.

Few things ruffle my feathers like condescension.

I don’t engage in disputes on social media, it’s absolutely pointless and I don’t want to give anyone the satisfaction. So I have a strict “one and done” rule–I share my opinion on the matter and I’m done. I try really hard to stick to my rule and the couple of times I haven’t I always get disappointed in myself that I stooped to someone else’s level. In this case, I felt the need to stick up for this poor other blogger, who had put so much work and love into a post only to have someone come along and pick it apart. I crafted a firm, short response and tried my best to be nice about it; and when she responded back I didn’t feel the need to add fuel to the fire so I let it go.

Or at least I tried to, but I couldn’t stop thinking about it.

I’m sure we’ve all been there. There have been many times that I’ve scrolled through my Instagram feed and stopped on a square that made me cringe. Maybe there’s an adorable baby strapped in a car seat wearing a big coat with the crossbar way too low. Or maybe it’s a shot of someone who appears to be in the driver’s seat while they’re taking a picture with their phone.

Here’s the thing folks, we see such a small snippet when we’re viewing a picture on social media. We’re really only seeing what someone wants us to see. So the fact that a mom posted a picture that maybe looks unsafe to you, might just be because she was trying to quickly stage a shot in her 10 seconds of spare time. And just because it looks like someone is driving unsafely, doesn’t mean that they’re not pulled over.

And just because you’re seeing a tiny square of someone’s life doesn’t mean you’re an expert on it.

I believe Thumper’s mom said it best when she said, “if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all.”

There is such an opportunity in the world of social media to be good and spread kindness. There are so many wonderful things about blogging and social media and the ease with which we can share our thoughts and lives with others. So please, of all the things to be, choose to be kind.

On the note of kindness, I have some exciting news to share with you! I’m so excited to share that my friend Emily and I have started a new Facebook group, and I like to think that kindness is part of the foundation of it. Emily and I both love social media and all the good that it has to offer; we love the connections we’ve made through blogging and how much we’ve learned. But there’s also a darker side that we’re not fans of. There are those that are catty, or only “in it for themselves”. After both being in several different Facebook groups over time we’ve learned the things we like and the things we don’t like. Below is a snippet of our group description, if you’re a blogger and it sounds like something you’re looking for, we’d love to have you!

You might have noticed that I like using the word fellowship quite a bit. First with the Friday Fellowship chat that I co-host, now with this group, and with another special project I’m working on that I’ll be sharing next week. I love the word fellowship so much more than just group. The definition of fellowship is “a friendly association, especially with people who share one’s interests” and that’s what I hope this group will be for us, a place for us to form friendships where we can build each other up and support each other in our efforts. Threads are starting today and we hope to see you there!