Are we a becoming a nation of bullies?

I've been thinking about bullying since last week when a friend warned me about a new Facebook "hack" where a hurtful comment, supposedly from you and invisible to you, is inserted into your Facebook responses. I've been thinking about all the hate and just pure meanness that we see all around us, and I have been wondering why this is happening. 

Are people seeing this cruel behavior modeled as "normal" in their entertainment? Yes, that is probably a factor, but you will have to evaluate the extent because I quit watching TV shows and current movies (except for the Hallmark type) years ago. When I saw darkness, hopelessness, violence, rudeness, crudeness, dishonesty, mocking the good, and selfishly using people portrayed as "normal", I flicked to the next channel, until finally, I just turned my TV off. The same with movies. When even the short advertising trailers made me cringe inside, I knew it would hurt me to watch it and make it a permanent part of my "memory banks", so I quit watching most new movies. 

Perhaps, I am more shocked by the bullying today because my "frog" stayed out of the "pot" by avoiding the hidden agendas of those in Hollywood.

Maybe it is because I have neither subscribed to any posts, nor followed  "Tweets" which try to harm others. Perhaps, being older, I just come from a different, more gentle, era. 

Upon reflection, I don't think people have changed that much. Seventy years ago, people expressed their frustration and hate to their family and friends, but most lacked the opportunity to spread their "poison" any further than their own town. What if people could have been sent daily, professionally done, posts which mock and tear down the good, making people into mere characterizations, insulting them, calling them derogatory names, spreading half truths, and where so called "facts" are nothing more than mere gossip? What if their friends were posting such things and told them that they were "true"? Did they really want to go to all the effort to find out what was really going on? When you hear things so often they must be true, right? 

Wouldn't people then, as much as now, have found it exciting to be part of some "great movement" which required little from them except to press the "Share" button? Wouldn't it be thrilling to have both the anonymity of only your friends knowing what you reposted and the feeling of power of being with thousands of other "followers"? Wouldn't this make you feel important?Would you want to be "left out"? Would you want to be labeled as a supporter of the "other side"? Would you want to be considered "not a part of the group", "unsophisticated", "not in the know", or even a "traitor" if you didn't "do your part" to make the post "go viral"? 

I think many would have given in then, as they do today, to this social pressure to hurt, tear down others, and try to coerce them into doing their will -- to bully others. Today, social media gives us tremendous power to selfishly attempt to boost our egos by attacking others who either will not, or can not, defend themselves.  

It also gives us amazing influence to do good and encourage people to become more like Christ - more patient, loving, and supportive. We can choose to allow others to emotionally manipulate us into going along with "herd mentality" so that we "follow" those who avoid problems by merely attacking someone else, or we can choose to be proactive and unitedly "follow" Christ to find real solutions to the problems we face today.

12 And now, verily, verily, I say unto thee, put your trust in that Spirit which leadeth to do good—yea, to do justly, to walk humbly, to judge righteously; and this is my Spirit. D&C 11:12

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/11?lang=eng

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/media/video/2014-02-003-bullying-stop-it?lang=eng