Facebook: A Case Study in Human Degeneracy

I am increasingly disturbed by the sheer volume of vitriol I encounter on Facebook. As my profile begins to reach a broader audience, the wave of hate and hostility directed at me is not just unsettling; it is completely unacceptable. Who exactly do these keyboard warriors think they are? I have no doubt that if I met them in person, they would shrink into silence, as timid as a church mouse. Yet, armed with the anonymity of the internet and a heart brimming with resentment, they feel emboldened to unleash their unfiltered hatred.

This behavior forces me to ask: when did this level of derisiveness become the norm? Have human beings always been this base, or is this a consequence of our digital evolution, a descent into an isolated, impersonal internet culture where cruelty thrives unchecked? I am not inviting this kind of hostility mind you. Nothing about my presence or my posts warrants such grotesque reactions. My goal is simple: to market myself and my book by sharing meaningful quotes on social media. But apparently, that act alone is enough to summon an army of simpletons eager to project their own insecurities onto me.

I try to remain unaffected, to brush it off as the desperate flailing of people who lack both purpose and critical thought. But I can’t. I am, by nature, endlessly curious, even to a fault. And what I cannot ignore is the question of why people behave this way, how they can be so gratuitously vile, especially when unprovoked. I have spent too much time already scrubbing hateful comments from my posts, only to find that they keep coming. I report hate speech to Facebook, but the platform is nothing more than a sieve, allowing the filth to flow through unimpeded. These people don’t stop, and Facebook doesn’t seem to care.

Of course, I do not lower myself to engage with these bottom-feeders. There is an old but fitting adage: "A wise man never argues with a fool because people might not be able to tell the difference." This is exactly why I refuse to waste my energy responding. No matter how much sense I make, engaging with people who are intellectually or morally bankrupt is an exercise in self-debasement.

Facebook is, without a doubt, one of the lowest forms of digital existence. If it were up to me, I wouldn’t be on the platform at all. But in today’s world, it is a necessary evil, a tool for staying connected to family, friends, and the audience I am building. So, where does that leave me? Stuck wading through the endless mire, shoveling out the sludge of online hostility as I go.

I do wonder, though: at what point will Facebook tire of my relentless reports on hate speech? Or do they thrive on the engagement, no matter how toxic? Because what has been pouring into my inbox lately, what these faceless cowards feel comfortable saying when they think there are no real-world consequences, is beyond repulsive. It is an indictment of the very nature of social media, a space that has devolved into a cesspool where the worst of human nature is not only permitted but encouraged.