I have heard it said that most of the news that appears in various media such as television, the newspapers and radio tends to be of a negative nature and may give the impression that nothing good happens in the world, however, any thinking person knows that nothing could be further from the truth.

There was a video posted on Facebook of a group of teenagers who videoed a man drowning in a pond in Florida. Despite his cries for help they made no attempt to help nor did they call for help, instead, they laughed after the man submerged and drowned in the pond. I found their lack of empathy utterly callous and inexcusable conduct.

The notion of filtering things out does not make them go away and we all have a choice in how we react or respond to what we read and see. Horrible things happen in life and not reporting them or filtering the content does not detract from what happened or what was said and by whom at the time.

I have to say that your notion of filtering smacks of censorship and all that that implies.One of my favourite authors the late Dr. Thomas Szasz said: "Parkinson's Law states that work expands to fill the time available for its completion. In a similiar vein, anxiety expands to fill the mental space available for its contemplation."

I appreciate the aspect of this that speaks to the effects of exposure to chronic negativity as it correlates to anxiety and apathy, and think we could certainly benefit as a society if there were greater mindfulness in this regard as well as a greater balance with what we're subjected to. But I don't want any type of forced regulation. Maybe the greatest benefit would be found in encouraging others to take personal responsibility in this regard. Writers and reporters with what they dish out, and individuals with what they choose to consume.

Don't click on topics you don't want to read. It's simple.

Nobody is forcing you to read every post.

You have that already - it's called scrolling and there's a little dial or wheel on the center of your mouse that makes this work perfectly. It's not admin's job to sanitize this group so you're not exposed to negativity - it's called life.