Stop and think before criticizing others

There seems to be a great deal of negativity in the air lately and we all need to take a long breath and think before we speak.  Any time we criticize someone, we throw out negativity.  Some amount of criticism can be useful at certain times and places.  But, generally, criticism is harmful to the person getting criticized and all it does is feed the ego of the person doing the criticizing.

This could be something as simple as criticizing someone's clothing or hair style.  It could be about their age, sex, height, weight, or physical fitness.  It could be about their ideas or traditions or their religious beliefs or political preference.  It could be their race or sexual orientation.  It can be almost anything.  We just seem to love to criticize people.  Often, we think it's not really harmful and we seem to think we have the right to give our opinion about everybody else.  Of course, we have the freedom to give our opinions, but we haven't understood that we need to just keep our mouths shut and think before we speak.  

Social media is changing our national consciousness.  We are coming together in a way that we have never done.  We are literally having a national conversation about very important matters, like racial and economical equity and how we can improve the world.  During this time, we need to figure out how to provide useful feedback and avoid negative criticism of others.  Stop complaining about others.  Stop putting others down.  Stop hating others.  Stop arguing and fighting with others.  Stop being so stubborn and stop thinking you know it all.  Stop feeling superior and stop being selfish.

Our national conversation needs to be positive.  We need to discuss our feelings but we need to think about what we say can affect others.  Negative criticisms lead to arguments and fighting.  Positive thoughts and comments lead to continued discussion and will lead to resolution of problems.  We can work together and improve our world but only if we can give up our egos that are telling us to criticize others and show others that we are better than them.  

What are some examples of how negative criticisms in our social media can harm us all?  What can we do about it?