By Hayley Parker ’19
Staff Writer
Americans caused a social media explosion after Donald Trump became the president-elect. And Nov. 9 was the day social media took a turn for the worse.
After the unanticipated presidential election of Donald Trump, Americans turned to social media to express their feelings about the election’s outcome. While some celebrated Trump’s victory, others took to Facebook and Twitter to mourn the unexpected loss of Hillary Clinton. Clash of heated opinions from Democrats, Republicans, and third party supporters set social media on fire, fueling the apparent division of our country.
To the people who respectfully shared their opinions through social media, I appreciate your views. But to the people who decided to insult others’ opinions, here’s what I have to say to you.
As I scrolled through Facebook and checked Twitter Wednesday morning, I came to realize how hateful and hostile this election has made Americans toward each other. A large majority of statuses and tweets not only had something negative to say about the candidate they didn’t support, but also sent hurtful messages to the supporters of those candidates.
Implying that all Trump supporters are uneducated, racist, and misogynistic people because of who they support does not define them. Calling all Clinton supporters liars, untrustworthy, and hateful people does not define them.
Seeing someone differently because of who they voted for is the main problem emerging from this election. Social media is causing people to think less of others because of their personal and political beliefs.
Americans are forming the division in our country even before Trump takes office in January. Although we want to point fingers and blame one man for this division, we need to take a look around and realize that the messages we are posing on our social media accounts are influencing our children and other members of society. Lashing out at someone’s opinion over social media is not going to make your’s any stronger. Whether you are delighted by the election turnout or you are devastated, as Americans we need to stop spreading hate and mutually respect each other’s opinions in order for a peaceful transfer of power to happen.
