MANY of us are struggling during these uncertain times: people have been furloughed or have lost their job completely in the county amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Journalists battle on, bringing the latest news to entertain, inform and keep people sane.

Part of our job now, with a reduced staff force even before coronavirus struck, is to use social media platforms to gather news as well as visiting a location when we can.

Social media is an everyday part of life for most of us now and one of the places where information and opinion is shared.

So why is it then when a journalist visits a site to post a benign question, there is often aggressive comments posted in return?

If forum members do not want to comment, then just ignore the comment.

Why attack a reporter doing his or her job and get personal, bemoaning the fact that news isn’t free and has to be paid for, including online, with the addition of a paywall after so many free hits ? (Coronavirus stories remain free)

Do we ring up or message your place of work and to abuse you?

Of course we don’t.

We publish stories that you might not want to hear but then the very same people will come to us the following week wanting their story in the paper, seemingly having forgotten their vile comments the week before.

At other media outlets, journalists get the odd nasty comment (one guy I know publishes them all as a story each year) but in Worcester it now seems to be a daily occurrence.

I know people are getting frustrated and bored at the moment, we all are, but let’s look positively to the future.

Just think before you message and as the old adage goes: ‘If you can’t say something good, don’t say anything at all.’

We will all be in this situation for a long time to come and I hope society will change by becoming more compassionate as a result, to take a positive away from a negative.

Think before you post and be kind, always.