Hackers

Very often when I make a negative comment about Donald Trump on an article read through the Facebook platform, I will soon receive an instant message request. This will always feature a picture of a sexy young woman, named Taffy or Angel or Darlene or what have you, and will say something like "Hi!" or "Hi, Richard, can you friend me?" These of course are from a hacker--an angry person, probably an overweight male, who has read and objected to my comment. Rather than debating the point, or merely being quiet and moving on, these folks are driven by an unnatural desire to reach out and hurt someone--their intent, in this case, being to break into one's Facebook account and friends list and fill it with trash or porn or what have you. It is yet another example of how people can take what should be a good thing--Social Media, the ability to communicate with people around the world, freedom of speech and the exchange of ideas--and turn it into a bully's game of intimidation and assault. I find this sort of thing depressing and disheartening and painfully typical of the deteriorating state of American society and manners. Of course, I suppose the answer is just not to comment at all. Forget the idea of meaningful debate or conversation. Hell, for all I know, these hackers are Russian anyway. In any case, they are anonymous, and anonymity is the perfect invitation for some to be at their very worst. It appeals to the secret sociopath in those who are inclined in that direction to begin with.