Keyboard Heroes

There's some shit going on in the world right now, Aussie and New Zealand troops being killed in Afghanistan, hurricanes hitting the south of the states, again, earthquakes every second week, and if that isn't enough, now Charlotte Dawson is in hospital after some pathetic oxygen thieves berated and harassed her on Twitter.

Why did they do that? Because she stood up to bullies.

Internet trolls are nothing new, people who just want to stir the pot because they have nothing else to do, and probably ( I don't know for fact as I don't actually know any keyboard heroes) brag to their mates how they 'really got Charlotte Dawson on Twitter'.

Think about how fucking stupid that sounds, yes, it really is that fucking stupid.

People are losing family members, friends, brothers, sisters, husbands, wives, and all some shit stain cares about is being as abusive as possible to a public figure behind the anonymity of a keyboard somewhere.

Corrine Grant just wrote a fantastic piece on this very issue http://thehoopla.com.au/dear-charlotte-lovecorinne/?cpg=2 and I wasn't sure that I could add anything to it, but I can. Support.

Corrine and I share mutual friends, one of which we lost a few years ago to suicide because we didn't know the extent of his depression. Depression is real, it's not a sign of weakness, it's very real, and it's fucking awful. I know a lot of people don't understand it, and probably never will, because it doesn't make a lot of sense. "Why are you feeling sad, you have a great life", if only it were that easy. You feel useless, pathetic, you sit hating yourself, not wanting to associate with anyone, and when you do, it's like a dark fog that clouds your vision, regardless of what people see from the outside looking in.

We're all guilty of giving someone a spray, being vitriolic, it's human nature, and I don't think it's ever going to change, but maybe we can be more aware of the consequences, and then maybe people will think twice before they unleash fury on someone they don't even know.

I'm fairly anonymous being on radio, and I cop shit from people on the phone, e-mails, twitter and so on, and I can only imagine what someone like Charlotte Dawson cops from the brain dead single digit typists with chips on their shoulder, I think it stinks.
That's the problem with social media like twitter isn't it. It gives everyone a voice, there's no editing, and for the most part, are unaccountable for they damage they do all too often.
I don't want to see anyone else fall to the depths my friend did not so long ago, myself included.