Social media can be unbearably brutal

Hillary Clinton is running for president.

However, guess whose name keeps getting mentioned? Monica Lewinsky's.

I recently watched her speech on TED talks. My perception of her has changed as a result. I now see a brilliant woman who just made a mistake while in her 20s.

We all have made mistakes; ours just tend to happen behind closed doors.

During her speech, Lewinsky discusses the impact of public humiliation.

Lewinsky admits to her mistakes, but says we as people lack empathy and have become desensitized. She explains how social media has created a culture of humiliation.

Lewinsky also points out that the more humilation, the more clicks it gets, and that becomes more advertisement.

She makes an excellent point. How many times has a embarrassing or cruel video gone viral on social media? Plenty of times.

Even celebrities have experienced public humiliation.

Back in September 2014, a few celebrities' iCloud accounts were hacked, revealing very personal photos. Public humiliation can happen to anyone.

We need to change how we handle public humiliation on social media.

When public humiliation occurs, it impacts our mental health. Unfortunately, sometimes someone will commit suicide as a result.

Lewinsky addresses her darkest moments of not wanting to live. She wants more people to support anti-bullying organizations. And she also believes we should start consuming news with more compassion.

Lewinsky thinks we need to talk about more responsibility regarding freedom of expression.

Back in 1998, people consumed news in a very different way than how we do now. During that time, Lewinsky experienced tremendous humiliation.

Can you imagine what she would have endured if it happened today?

I think sometimes we need to put ourselves in other people's shoes.

We as people are very private when it comes to our problems. However, when it comes to others we are quick to judge and lack empathy.

I don't think any of us can imagine experiencing what Lewinsky went through. I hope in the future we can change how we respond to negative news on social media.

"Humiliation is a more intensely felt emotion than happiness or anger," Lewinsky said.

Briyana Hubbard is a 2015 graduate of University of Maryland Eastern Shore.