Certain Things Will Never Go Out of Style: Respect and Good Manners

In this changing, complex and dynamic world there are roots that continue to give us strength and encouragement.

No matter how fast our society advances, there are things that keep us afloat: sincerity, respect, good manners, etc.

A notable fact that many see often in social media is the lack of respect among users.

Thanks to the anonymity on these platforms, it’s common to be disrespectful and rude to other people and groups.

The social media world is a complex scenario where the worst and the best of human beings is often reflected.

This valuable and wonderful communication tool undoubtedly enriches our knowledge but, in turn, if used incorrectly, it can become harmful.

Perhaps for this reason, we must be very intuitive and skillful when educating our children in this world.

We have to make them see that there are things that should always be present in any scenario: respect between people and good manners.

Both are values of great power in a world where information is shared in seconds, where we can communicate with anyone on the planet.

If we respect each other we’ll create a more hopeful future.

It is worth investing in good manners. We shouldn’t let them decay in this society where we no longer need to see each other face to face to be friends, where love can arise between two people in very different points of the world.

We encourage you to think about this subject more today.

Good manners on social media

In 2014, the well-known social network Facebook was obliged to invest money, time and effort to promote a life aspect that, apparently, was disappearing: good manners.

It may seem strange and even disturbing. Have we really forgotten what respect is?

In fact, it’s not that we’ve forgotten what it is. It’s just that these scenarios on social networking sites are very conducive to deploying behaviors as dangerous as cyberbullying.

Oddly enough, causing harm is sometimes easier than giving someone respect, attention or living together with other people – behaviors that younger generations don’t always put into practice.

To avoid or at least control this type of behaviour, Facebook created a character called Mr. Nice.

Below we explain what role Mr. Nice plays within the most powerful social network in the world, a role which the newspaper The New York Times wrote an interesting article about.

Harassment on the internet, a growing problem

Facebook‘s own managers are aware that the phenomenon of online harassment on social networking sites does nothing but increase.

A study by the Pew Research’s Internet Project found, for example, that nearly 65 percent of young Americans aged 18 to 29 have been harassed on Facebook.

• All this forced this social network to create Mr. Nice, a character behind which there are more than 80 workers whose job is to ensure, as far as possible, the safety of and respect between users.
• For example, the option of controlling who tags us in a photo and being able to firstly check if the material in which we appear pleases us before we approve it or not were designed.
• Mr. Nice has a system for deciding what kind of photographs can be published or not on the social networking site. Furthermore, offensive material is censored. Likewise, profiles of users who misuse the social network to promote violence are deleted.
• One aspect that all these people who work under the name of Mr. Nice have agreed upon is that users should share things with good intentions. Good should always win over bad.

However, no one can measure the impact that their actions can have on other people.

Hence, you can’t control everything.

However, the most famous social networking site in the world is aware that they must fight for respect and good manners on the site every day.

For a more respectful world, for a more dignified future

Creating a more dignified future for us and the new generations requires willpower, effort and dedication.

It’s possible that the complex panorama of our current situation, with so many social problems and political crises, prevents us from being able to imagine a more hopeful, dignified world full of opportunities.

However, it’s important to reflect on some aspects:

• Great changes are driven by the willpower and respect of many people and of small entities that make a great difference.
• Respect and good manners are values that should never go out of fashion. They must remain in every aspect of our daily lives. For instance, they should appear in our work places, family life and on social networking sites.
• There’s another aspect that we can’t forget: an act of kindness has much more impact than an act of hate. Goodness inspires and is contagious.

It’s worthwhile, then, to sow small seeds of goodness and hope in our daily lives, as these seeds will grow into plants, which will bear the best fruit.