One of my least favorite activities nowadays is scrolling through my own Facebook feed.
What used to be a great pastime for me has now become one of the worst parts of my day.
While I do appreciate being able to be kept up to date on the important events going on in the lives of my loved ones, the burden of being forced to see such negative news constantly flooding my timeline ruins the idea of social media for me.
It is one thing to be notified of major news stories that involve tragedies, but social media has adopted this habit of making it seem as though all news has to be bad news.
Whether it is to get views or for another reason, people believe that negative news is what people want to see, so they repost every negative article they come across.
I may have my hopes set too high when it comes to wanting to see a switch from negative news being the only type of news portrayed on social media to stories of success being at the top of Facebook feeds everywhere.
I understand that the negative stories may be the most important, but I think people need to have the opportunity to read some positive stories as well.
This fact is still true when it comes to print versions of newspapers as well.
It only leaves me wondering if these negative stories play a part in how people view news now.
I often think about how these negative stories can leave a bad taste in the mouths of readers.
I think that for every negative news story, someone in the world must have done something positive. It is important to bring the achievements of people to light.
Especially with the recent tragedies that our country has gone through, such as shootings and other disasters, there are so many tales of hope that can come out of these stories.
I think it is our job to find those stories of hope and bring them out.
Print a story of hope or achievement on the front page of a newspaper. Repost a story of success to your own Facebook timeline.
We need more positivity in our daily lives.
Right now, our country is facing many obstacles, and those struggles can be extremely disheartening to some people.
I would like to see if there would be a shift in attitude if we were to start looking for the good in our world more than we look for the bad.
I wonder if viewpoints could be shifted in ways we did not believe could happen.
I think most people want to focus on the negative aspects of the news because it gives them something to argue about.
Not many people want to search for the good anymore because they would rather argue back and forth on social media.
HARLEE BOEHM
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