When you opt to engage in this form of communication you make the choice as to what pages and the individuals you will 'follow' or 'like'. Your 'friends' list can be eclectic and far-reaching. For the record, the term friends needs to be used lightly. Let's face it, if you check out your friends list on Facebook - or any other social media - you will realise the circle of good friends in that list is very small. 

Then there are work colleagues, school acquaintances, friends of friends. There is even the chance that you don't know some of the people on the 'friends' list. But you made the choice to include them in your social media circle of 'friends'.

With all this in mind you are bound to quickly realise that in this new era of communication - or socialising and connecting - some posts that cross your scrolling path will be of interest and you will want to engage, other posts will be of little or no interest to you.

In the time before social media an individual's exposure to something that was of no interest to them was limited by that individual's choice to avoid or overlook the situation altogether. They did not feel the need to comment dismissively on someone else's conversation or leave a message of 'who cares' on the sales promotion in a shop front window. If it was of no interest they simply moved on and went about the business that mattered to them. They may have even showed enough respect to recognise that what may not be of interest to one person, may be of great interest to others.

Perhaps more people could engage in social media in the same way - scroll past if not interested. Meaningless, throwaway comments reflect more on the author than the subject it is linked to. They demonstrate disrespect to the right of others to have a difference of opinion or different interests. These keyboard warriors may feel brave to make throw away comments behind the safety of a screen, but that doesn't provide anonymity - look at all the 'friends' you have on social media. They know who you are.