This was the quote (by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr) that came to mind when I logged into my Facebook last night and saw that several of my "friends" had joined a group called "DEAR LORD, THIS YEAR YOU TOOK MY FAVORITE ACTOR, PATRICK SWAYZIE. YOU TOOK MY FAVORITE ACTRESS, FARAH FAWCETT. YOU TOOK MY FAVORITE SINGER, MICHAEL JACKSON. I JUST WANTED TO LET YOU KNOW, MY FAVORITE PRESIDENT IS BARACK OBAMA. AMEN." I just kind of sat there upset and confused as I usually get with all of the blatantly hateful, resentful, spiteful, obnoxious, hypocritical groups/status updates I see on there. I have been seriously contemplating deleting my Facebook account for some time now. I've discussed this with several friends (actual real life friends) and we all have the same grievances and love/hate relationship with the online craze that is Face book.
It is a wonderful way to keep in touch with your friends and family. All of your friends are neatly organized into one neat little list and you can just click on someone and see what they are doing, see pictures of their kids, leave them comments about how you guys should "get together for ice cream"---all of this while you are eating breakfast. I like to use the "fan page" option for my local sewing group. I can send out interesting links, meeting updates, message all of the members and let them know about other great events and they can respond and see the responses of other members (unlike emails). It is handy.
Then there is the "other hand" that makes Facebook not all that great. It is just what makes the site so wonderful that also makes it horrible. You see what everyone is doing----everything. Most of this doesn't matter. I can ignore the 30 updates a day giving me detailed information about what Mr. John Q. Public is doing every second of his life. What bothers me is the hateful, ill-informed nonsense from people that usually has to do with their religious and political stance on a subject. Freedom of Speech is wonderful. It allows us to live in a country where we are not afraid to voice our opinions---however, be kind. Is that too much to ask? Especially from people who get on soap boxes and preach about "morals" and "values" all day long. I am sorry dear, but supporting a group called "Pray for So-and-So" and also supporting one, like the one above, that is pretty much asking God to take the life from our President is about as hypocritical as you can get.
Like Amy from The Clumsy Housewife, I too have been considering going on a Facebook sabbatical. It has been part of my Happiness Project., getting rid of those things that trigger unhappiness in my life. I've just always considered it to be one of those necessary evils like mowing the grass and laundry. You've got to do it---just get used to it. Then again, how many minutes of my day are tied up on that useless website? I'd really hate to know. There are much better uses for my time (like mowing grass and doing laundry—yuck). I don't have an answer to this problem, and I am even slightly embarrassed to be calling it a problem. Why can't I just delete my account? Would it really even be that much of a loss? I would be able to organize my friends, or more importantly my sewing group as efficiently---but then again sometimes "good is just good enough" and I can always use email or the Blog's website, right?
Maybe I'll do it.
I agree, the first time I read that "group" name, it wasn't even a group at the time. A friend of mine from High School had posted that as a status update. I was so horribly offended. I emailed her and asked her to rethink her religious beliefs, because last I heard, THINKING of killing someone was as sinful as doing the deed. She apologized, she didn't make it up, just read it somewhere and found it humorous and thought of posting it. Never thinking of the TRUE implications of it. I had a couple of friends become a member of that group. And I'm seriously debating on just taking them off of my friends list, simply because I find that sort of thing offensive. They have a right to say what they want, BUT I also reserve the right to dictate what goes on on MY page. I've thought of taking a break from facebook. I probably won't delete it. There are too many family members and close friends that live too far away that I can conveniently keep in contact with, that it will stay, but I'm thinking of removing a lot of my friends from there. Simply as an act of decluttering.
ReplyDeleteAlso too, since I know you're NOT a fan of your personal information getting out there, Mr. V has mentioned that they might be selling SOME of your private information to private companies for advertising purposes. If this is so, I am going to barebones my account and not use it.
We've had this discussion before, and yet we both seem to struggle with our feelings for Facebook. I actually just finished dwindling down my Facebook friends list a few moments ago and hiding certain "friends" from my homepage that I wasn't willing to totally get rid of.
ReplyDeleteI tried a one-day break last week and was successful, and I'm really trying to monitor how much time I spend on there. Personally, I can't find anything morally or ethically wrong with Facebook, it's just when you misuse it that it becomes a problem. And when that happens, boy, is that a mess! I've spent countless hours cleaning up my Facebook account and making sure that it truly is a representation of the "me" now, and not who I was a few years ago. But I'm like you, I don't want everybody knowing all of my business, and likewise, I don't want to know everyone else's business.
It's just too much drama and too much gossip, and it's so easy for us to get consumed with those things.
As far as the Obama group goes, that's sad, and you're totally right in that it's hypocritical. You know that I wasn't a supporter, and even now, I can't say that I'm thrilled about some of the things he's doing, BUT...I support him and respect him as my president. I can only pray for him and hope that he does a good job leading our country, which I don't do enough of. In the past, I've been guilty of Obama-bashing myself and that's something that I'm definitely working on. In fact, I'm trying hard to keep all my people-bashing down simply because it ruins a person's witness, just like you mentioned in your blog. As people, we're just so drawn to tearing people down and talking about others because in some twisted way, it makes us feel better about ourselves.
Well, enough of my thoughts. But kudos to you for taking action!
T.-
ReplyDeleteI agree. There are plenty of public figures that I am not crazy about, but I have never wished anyone dead---even in jest! What a horrible thing to do! You can't control what a person does, but you have 100% control over how you react to it.
Sadly, you are right. I think everyone is guilty of bashing other people. Like you said, tearing others down does make us feel better about our own selves and because of this it is difficult to stop doing it. I think a lot of it also has to do with needing justification/validation for our actions. However, it usually is just instant gratification. You feel good for a little while, then feel really bad later.
Good to hear from you by the way! When should we expect a new blog post?