Why do you think you can tell me about my life?

I’ve written a few stories on Medium now, under this guise and under another, professional focused profile.

I’ve also been lucky enough for some of the stories to be read by some people, and in many cases, to have garnered some responses.

The majority of people who respond to stories on Medium do so in a way in which they acknowledge the story being told, confirm how they can relate in some way to the theme being discussed, or share a similar experience.

However, there is a minority of people who believe that from the 1000 words that they’ve read they can determine the cause of any woes, or the solution to any problem.

I’m not saying I’ve had large amounts of abuse online, I haven’t, but just some comments which made me think ‘how have you got to the point where you have assumed so much about me that you feel compelled to tell me about myself?’

I’m sure we’re all guilty of it in one way or another, but making the effort to direct your judgement on others is a step further than most people go.

Many people will happily just think to themselves that I’m an idiot, a bad parent, or a dickead, and get on with their lives, but some feel compelled to put me straight.

As most of our communication is non-verbal, it becomes a challenge online to process and categorize the information we receive, and due to our prehistoric brains and our need to fight or flight, when we’re unsure of another…