You know, a little while ago, I started to “vague-post” about something someone did that bothered me… And then I thought, “What the hell are you doing?  You’re a grown ass woman; if something is upsetting you, you need to talk to this person about it.”

While I haven’t known this person long, they had never given me reason to believe their behavior was malicious or that they were anything other than a reasonable person.  Why would I NOT confront them?  What was the worst that could happen?  In all likelihood, it was a miscommunication, and if not - if they responded aggressively - well, then we could cross that bridge when we came to it.  But for now, I had no reason not to give them the benefit of the doubt.

So, that’s what I did.  I confronted them, and we got the issue resolved in a matter of minutes.

I think that social media platforms make it very easy for us to give in to baser instincts and take a less charitable view of our cohorts than we would in face to face encounters.  And I think that the very term “confront” has gained a rather negative connotation.  However, a confrontation does not have to be an act of aggression.  It’s simply a matter of open communication:

“Hey, you did [blank] and I would prefer you didn’t.”

That is not an inherently aggressive statement.  It’s an acknowledgment of a behavior and opens a dialogue with the other person, which allows both parties to explain their position in an honest and friendly manner.

TLDR: Honest communication is vital to all interactions.  The best way to keep a platform from becoming hostile is to confront and resolve conflicts directly and firmly, but with politeness and never the assumption of malice.