EGAD! I Think These Folks are Bullies

NOTE: this is another rant where I tell you just what I'm thinking. I have not named any names, but you may be able to tell who the parties are based on contextual clues and access to the same social media feeds that I access. I will NOT publish any comments left on this post, so please feel free to comment below.

There is a trend happening on one of my social media groups that is really angering me. It is a trend of shaming. There are a couple of people who consistently get onto other posts and engage in language that is often irrelevant to the post and shame the original poster into doing something that is completely different from the first post.

I am torn about what to do about it all.

I think that the motivation behind the several other people is a genuine effort to promote a specific point of view into our profession. I believe that they have decided that this is the way to go forward but do not have the experience or ability to moderate their responses to the conversation of others. They have found a place where they can be recognized and receive support, and they are putting themselves into the conversation whether it is appropriate or not. 

I don't like people with agendas, and I certainly do not like being told that I have to do something because a couple of people think that things should done be one and only one way. 

Isn't making others do what you want through coercion or shaming, bullying?

That's what all my anti-bullying resources say. I don't think we should put up with this type of behavior from fellow professionals. In fact, I interpret aspects of our new Code of Ethics to show that we should not put up with this or reinforce it. Principles 1.12, 1.13, 2.5, 3.7, 3.12, and 5.2 (to some extent) can be interpreted as reminders to interact with one another with respect. The problem with the Code of Ethics is the same thing that is always the problem with codes of ethics - they can go towards both people involved in a conversation.

In my opinion, the original poster did what I would have done - attempted to gain understanding of an erroneous statement and then left the conversation. The first commenter had an emotional response to (what I felt was) the innocuous request for more information, and then others jumped in. The original poster sent a public apology to the first commenter (which I do not feel was warranted at all), and now others are jumping onto a post that has been changed significantly from what the first poster started with. This is why I don't post on this particular forum unless I absolutely have to do so.

I am getting ready to leave this toxic environment because it is becoming a place where people are being bullied by a small group of people who cry "privilege" as soon as someone disagrees with them. I'm sorry, but I can have an opinion that is different from yours. That is a basic right of humans - the right to have opinions that we have made for ourselves and that we keep for ourselves. There is no right to have everyone think or speak or do the same things that I do - and by engaging in confrontation or shaming others through comments or posts, I am trying to exert my opinion onto others. I refuse to do that, and I don't like it when others try to force their agendas onto me.

Call me stubborn, but I like to do what I decide is right for me and for the people I work for and serve. It may not be appropriate for me to completely abandon language that has finally become acknowledged in my local area as appropriate. Being shamed into using language that two people insist upon can have ramifications outside. If this conversation had started in a way that was less coercion and more conversation, I think I wouldn't be feeling the same way about these interactions, but my highly sensitive brain is taking these comments personally (even though they are not directed towards me at all). I think I will leave this forum as it has become a place where people reinforce things that I do not agree with - in my opinion - which is sort of the point to most of my rants.

I guess all of this comes down to one thing and one thing only. 

Don't tell me what to do!

As I see it, I have two choices here. I can continue to engage in this particular forum or I can leave. I am toying with the idea of removing the group from my sidebar so I can't see what is going on with it to see if I can give it up completely. Maybe this will be my social media challenge for the week - give up one feed to see if I miss it at all...

Hmmm.

Sorry for the opinionated rant here, but it is my blog, so I get to spew my OPINIONS all over the place!!