"Well I NEVER..........!!!"

I'm always fascinated by what "offends" people.   I do NOT seek to do so myself, but, it happens.  And, in my case, it happens as a byproduct of me speaking my mind.    So do i subscribe to the belief that one ought to speak their mind in every situation just because they CAN do so?  No.  I believe there are appropriate and inappropriate venues and mediums in which to state your opinion about any number of things.
The problem with "social media" in general?  It's generally viewed as a "no holds barred" type of arena.  And yes, to a degree (almost non existent to me) the underlying assumed anonymity of the internet supports this context.  I say "non existent to me" because there is almost nothing i will say in this medium that i would not say in person to most people.  I'm acutely aware, however, that there are people who will ONLY say certain things from the protective cocoon of their internet persona.

I hate those people.

If the advent of the internet provided you the prophylaxis you previously lacked in order to interact on a meaningful level with people, whether that be meaningful to you, to them, or to both, then you should find a way to asphyxiate yourself with some rusty piano wire because your purpose on this earth is not worthy of continuing.

As I am today, i was before the interwebz existed.  I'm not a product of this phenomenon.  My willingness to speak my mind and find a relative balance in articulating my thoughts is not new.  It's just who I am.   I may cross boundaries sometimes, and that's ok.  Certainly, what the internet and social media provides is a larger audience for those thoughts than just my inner circle of friends and what this translates to is a larger mirror to me for those thoughts.  Yes, my opinions are "influenced" from time to time and often more frequently than not.  I dont perceive this as a flaw.  I perceive it as an asset.   I stand pretty firm on the concept that i ought not comment on things that i don't know enough about.   The reflections i get from other people regarding my rants often provides me a tweaking in my own perspective, sometimes even enough to get me to change my angle on an issue.

The latter does not happen very often.   I'm not sure what that means.

I've purported, up to now, that i am somehow "immune" from being offended.   In some ways, I think this is still accurate.   In my mind, the issue of being "offended" means that "I don't like what you said and i will not listen to you any further.".  Under that definition, i cannot think of an instance where i simply blocked someone out under those circumstances.  I can honestly say i've stopped listening to certain people because their tripe has bored me to tears.   Now, there are cases like that worthless piece of shit, Joe Bolin who thinks it's "artistic" to create little verbal vignettes where he describes raping a woman with a broken beer bottle.  It doesn't matter that he used friends of mine as the subjects for his little Aesop's Fables.  It's the fact that he, and people like him, are so fucking retarded in their view of the world that i just have no USE for that kind of shit.  So it's not a matter of me putting my fingers in my ears and saying "NA NA NA NA NA!!!  I CANNOT HEAR YOU!!!", it's much more an act of "meh.....i'm changing this channel".  Is there a difference?  I think so.   If you don't agree........you're wrong.  Deal with it.

Raising my ire is completely different than "offending" me.   Raising my ire is pretty easy, and i enjoy it quite a lot.