If more of us responded this way, social media would be a different place.Madison Haulter, a high school senior in Indiana, had something to say last week when her prom pictures went viral on Twitter, eliciting a nasty response:
The pictures of Madison and her boyfriend Tre in prom attire were widely shared and commented on while the two were at the dance, and it wasn’t until she got home that she saw this cruel comment from a complete stranger:
“Wow he loves you even tho you’re fat :(”
Madison resisted the temptation to respond in kind, instead simply sharing a bit of wisdom about common courtesy.
“Don’t see how people can be rude to people they don’t even know,” she tweeted. That response went viral, getting over 6,800 retweets and thousands of responses.
Social media is often gleefully vicious, and moments like these are few and far between. Madison’s response was perfect because it was calm and unassuming — just a patient reminder to all of us to mind our manners. Even on Twitter.
Update: A modeling company wants to shoot Madison for their magazine, calling her “beautiful and an inspiration to young girls.” What a lovely ending to a story that started with ugliness!
