Our age of digital connection is showing its positive benefits and the shadow of its overload.

The constant staring at a screen and seeing people as representations as nothing more than avatars, carefully handcrafted of piecemeal highlights, has disconnected us from the real person behind it.

People are nuanced… they’re complicated… broken… and strong. They also carry with them the gamut of human emotion, available at any point depending on what the situation demands. Behind every attack somebody gives without further thought to consequence, the person on the receiving end feels a personal hit.

There’s nothing more draining than a deluge of comments aimed directly towards you with a high negative flux. It’s no wonder the most resilient of us offer the advice to merely ignore the online commentary. As a writer, the best advice is to not read reviews or take any heed from them.

However, when we see compassion being exhibited, it’s time to stop and celebrate.

The compassion I refer to is not the pleasantries (and almost compelled commitment) to reply to someone with such clichés as frowning emojis or overused Hallmark sentiments. It’s the compassion where somebody picks up the phone, dials a number and calls the person in question.

It’s the compassion of an entire community coming together to support a single neighbour.

It’s the stories we read about that make us feel good about humanity and give hope to the future.

We need to celebrate these more, give them more credence and do so in the hopes it will spark a revolution that pushes against the faceless void of digital apathy.