Oh Facebook, how I love and hate you so. I can't help but log into my little account (almost) every day. (or multiple times a day...shhh!) There are always new and interesting surprises. Often, I find that FB has been changed its homepage or there are new 'privacy settings.'Its the 'same' facebook but just a 'newer' version. So right when you think this whole facebook thing is the same ol' same ol' it suddenly changes and throws you for a loop. Sucking us all in just a little bit more:)
So its a typical Monday night...one of those draggy winter days and Bachelor is over. Winter Olympics are over. You have to be at work early the next day. DRAG! What is there to do?! FACEBOOK! Its like a little light bulb that goes off...almost every day, and you hop on! Within 15 minutes of perusing you can get updated on 20% of your high school graduating class. You can look through detailed picture albums of someone that you haven't actually seen face to face in years. Its glorious really. How intimate we can be without real human contact...but the best part of all are the status updates. Not only can you get up on a little soap box and vent about say...traffic, or the gobs of work you have to do, how much you hate Mondays, or love Starbucks, what percentile your baby is in height and weight, how many days until your wedding, or the details of what you ate the past 8 hours...I mean honestly the world is wide open...you just log in and there it is...that rectangular white space awaiting you with that little gray writing that says "What is on your mind?" It's like a little friend there to listen to anything and everything you might want to say. How can we resist?!...Your fingers type away and you click SHARE...and there it is...for all the world to see. Well your confirmed friend world that is.
Is it ridiculous. Yes, it is. Do I love it. Yes, I do. However, I've noticed that some people are getting up on their little soap box and straying off the yellow brick road. Status updates about your hair, or working your ass off at the gym, eating chocolate, and mundane life topics are by all means welcomed. I mean not that we really need to know any of that, but sure post it, why not! It makes us all feel a little less ordinary to share it. Right? Or maybe it connects our ordinary lives together.
But some of us tend to get bored of the mundane status updates. When they see that little gray phrase: What is on your mind? Well, they say it. They post about politics, the economy, gay marriage, religion, what they hate, and who they hate, or what they believe and what they dont....Suddenly I find myself scrolling through other people's status updates on a boring weekday evening. One minute I'm reading about speech competitions, baby's first bath, tv show rants, and then BAM! I see the post: politics. religion. economy. the president. etc. etc. etc. anything worth fighting about. And I find it...well refreshing actually.
However, I find that many of the people who post controversial status updates can't take the heat. Lets say you are part of the ______ party. And you post about ________ policy. You (hate) or (love) the policy or proposed policy. So you write about it. And that's great. Freedom of speech at its finest. But realize you are posting this to a large audience. Yes you confirmed your friends on facebook. That doesn't mean you really know who your audience is or what they believe. So realizing that posting these beliefs, thoughts, or criticisms are read by all kinds of people. What bothers me is that when people disagree with status update comments or criticisms about religion, government, the economy, the war, whatever...they get defensive. Honestly! You posted the status update! So by doing this, you allow your audience to respond. Facebook is a forum really. Can we foster a productive debate on a string of status updates and comments...maybe. But at the same time, we cannot get defensive and upset when people post disagreements. Often I find that people may even offend the person who posted the status update. Well get over it. If you choose to use the Facebook status update for your own political or religious agenda, realize the consequences. People may not agree with you. And its okay. It's healthy. It's a GOOD thing to talk to each other....even if we do not share the same agenda. Those of you who can't handle it though....please just stick to Starbucks.
