NOVEMBER 20 — When I was in Malaysia last year, I met a person who soon became a good friend. One evening, I was on my way home from work and as I had moved from where I had been staying, I had taken a different train to a station that I had never been to before. For some reason, I found the area daunting, and every story I had heard about crime in KL began to play on my mind.

Perhaps it was a culmination of interning in a foreign country, being constantly surrounded by chaos, or even just trying to find my way around a strange place on minimal sleep, but as I hopped off that train, I clutched my laptop tighter, and I was suddenly hit hard. My chest felt tight, I didn’t feel that I could breathe and I began to cry. Maybe, for the first time in my life, I was experiencing a panic attack.

I rang my friend who quickly came to my assistance. He took me back to his place, gave me a hot meal and was a loving supportive friend. It is rare for me to show such vulnerability to another person, but that day, I knew I was with a person whom I could trust.  We are still friends today because he is a kind, considerate and compassionate man, who constantly goes out of his way to help his friends.

My friend has now become the most hated man on Facebook. This is due to a momentary lapse of judgment in a road rage incident. I don’t condone his actions but I understand that what we think we know and what the truth is, can be two different things. Plus, faced with a similar situation, how we react or respond, could possibly even shock the most placid ones among us.

I’ve watched this man being attacked on social media, and I’ve been appalled by the group mentality of his persecutors.

I acknowledge a momentary lapse of judgment. What I don’t understand is how it is deemed acceptable for people on social media to persecute this man without knowing the facts. I’ve seen this man called a wife beater; I’ve heard that his phone numbers, family photos and even his address have been posted online, and all this is deemed acceptable.

We live in an age where social media defines much of what we do, and for some reason, the lines of acceptability in our actions have become blurred. People scream out wanting blood, and because it’s online, such actions are considered the norm.

The lynch mob may not have a noose, but their actions are just as damaging to the person than a rope tied around the person’s neck.

We find it acceptable to hate another with a vengeance. We find it acceptable to take the law in our own hands and find a person guilty, and even worse, we find it acceptable to attempt to destroy a man’s life and attack both him and his family online.

There are aspects to social media that I dislike, and watching the group mentality viciously attack another, is one aspect that I’ll never understand or accept.

They called my friend a bully, but to me, the bullies are all those who are not reacting in a split second to a situation. They are the people who sit on social media and deem it acceptable to attack another, without ever knowing the other person, or the facts.

* This is the personal opinion of the writer and does not necessarily represent the views of Malay Mail Online.