Ditch the Downers?

I don’t think I’d consider myself to be a negative person; I have my moments I guess, like anyone does, but on the whole I’d say I’m mostly positive. In my experience, most people I follow on Twitter (or other similar services) post positive things, or neutral at the very least. The problem I am having is dealing with the people that, for whatever reason, feel the need to make everything they post about be how awful everything is.

I would like to keep up with these people. I really would. I like them and they write witty things on their websites and seem like people I would hang out with. But it’s getting really, really draining when every single thing I hear from them is how this one bad thing happened and then they got a migraine and had to go grocery shopping and they got stuck in traffic and it rained and they came home and their favorite show was canceled and they got in a fight with their significant other and now the dog is sick and meanwhile I am almost starting to question how one person’s life could really be that awful.

Everyone has bad days. I get that. I myself have had a lot this past month. What I don’t get is how consistently awful these people make their lives sound. Surely your child did something cute today? Or perhaps after it rained you saw a rainbow? Or you thought your dog was sick but it turned out he was just faking and you saved a $300 vet trip?

Maybe it’s because I tend to post really banal things on Twitter – I see it as being more lighthearted than anything, and when people post these gut-wrenching missives on really depressing topics it gets to me.

Do I unfollow these people because I feel like they are bumming me out more than they’re amusing me, or is that totally heartless? Does it make a difference if they don’t follow me (meaning: we are not at all close)? What to do?

File Under: General, Internet

Tagged: No tags