I find myself extremely frustrated this morning because people on social media seem to forget that I have a right to consent when it comes to being added to chats or groups on social media. I am a very kind person and support many causes for many reasons, but I don't like being randomly added to chats or groups without an explanation. The reason for this is because many online gamers have and will add me to social media chats for the sole purpose of bullying and/or trolling me.
I was recently added to a chat by someone from the LGBTQ2 community who is actively being targeted by haters on social media for her activism. I love the LGBTQ community and I have awesome relatives who are part of that community, but if people wish me to support a cause, they need to ask if I am okay with being added to support forums. When I explained why I hate being randomly added to groups and the bullying that follows, people in the chat got upset with me and labelled me as a hater. I was also told that I could leave the group if I was uncomfortable and was subsequently removed from it.
Expressing that I am uncomfortable being added to an activist group without permission does not mean I hate the cause for which people are advocating. I am a person with a social disability and people used to overstep their bounds with me all the time because they assumed I couldn't speak for myself and they believed I didn't have a right to my own voice. Instead of letting me do things for myself, people used to simply do them for me and call me 'stupid' for my limited efforts. I am all for equality activism, but I don't like being forced into something; I like being treated as if I have a voice of my own because I do.
For the sake of my future sanity, please do not add me to groups or group chats without asking me first. It doesn't take very long to send a message asking permission and doing that shows me that you respect me as a person and my rights as a person. If you think I'm a hater for establishing that type of a boundary, go ahead and unfriend me. It seems as I get older and wiser, I need to clearly emphasize that I am not the person I was in the past and I have clear boundaries. I am not a doormat, a punching bag, a random number, or someone who can be steamrolled over anymore.
