Do you “Facebook”?

I’ve been putting a lot of thought into taking a break from facebook.  Being a non-committal kind of person, I don’t really want to delete it entirely, but I do find myself getting increasingly aggravated by it.  Of course I’m generalizing, because facebook is the sum of it’s parts, in this case the people who post on it.

I get tired of the complaints, the bragging, the need for attention.  Things like, “Send prayers, my cousin’s fiance’s daughter’s best friend is having surgery on her big toe tomorrow”.  Or maybe, “I’m off to my summer home for a month.  Glad to be able to get a way from these horrible winters here in Pittsburgh.  So blessed.”  Yep, that’s the kicker.  Make sure you add that “blessed” word.  Because somehow  you aren’t “blessed”  if you’re reading their post and stuck in Pittsburgh for the duration of winter.  How bout, “my car broke down and  I just spend my last $1000 on a new 50 inch TV”.

You’ll have your funny videos, weather and school closing posts, and blow by blow events that happen during the day.  “Just made yummy soup, watching football, cleaning the house, etc”.

To make it interesting, we can all “comment” on those posts.  And we can say whatever we damn well please.  But we must be careful, those people are our “friends”.  Yep, people we haven’t seen since high school.  People we’ve hunted down and friend requested, neighbors and co-workers.  If you say what you really feel, you just might find yourself de-friended.  Yep.  Without warning somebody can take what you say, twist it around in their head to somehow be judgmental, get the wrong idea (or the right idea as the case may be), and block you.  You can no longer see what’s going on in their life.  You can’t see the photos of their magical trip to Cancun, their kids straight A report card or hear about the bad service they received at McDonalds.  And just like any friendship, you’ll be left dumbfounded.  You’ll explain to yourself in your head….”well, I was gonna block THEM anyway, they just beat me to it”.  Have we ever truly been sad to be “blocked”?  I know I haven’t lost any sleep over it.

Now I must admit, I”m guilty of a few of those posts.  I’ll post a picture and wait for the replies.  I’ll check back a hundred times.  And then I’ll get an attitude. Hmmm, I post things in reply to their hard times, their beautiful life….why can’t they post something about mine.

And then it hits me…..facebook is very much a narcassistic game.  We believe that there is a world out there that actually gives a shit about our highs and lows.  It’s true, maybe somebody loves when you have good times, and secretly loves when you have bad times.  Of course they’ll never admit it.  Think about it, have you ever checked facebook and read about somebody having a rough day?  Have you thought, “oh, that poor thing, hope it gets better” (at least that’s what you post).  Or you really thought, shut the fuck up already.  You complain every day.  I think you might deserve it.

Do you look at a person that isn’t a “friend” and stalk them?  Do you check out their photos?  Do you want to know about them, without actually “friending” them?  Yep, I”m sure you do.

Have you ever seen a post on a friends page, recognized the name and thought, “I wanna be friends with them”?  I”m sure you have.  I have.

I wonder what kind of people post what they post.  Have you thought that you liked a person, but after reading their stupid post reconsidered?

I wonder what they’re looking for. Sympathy, jealousy, consideration?

My life is a relentless question mark.   I don’t understand a lot of things.  I often wonder how and why and who.  I guess it’s interesting to me to think about those things.

Isn’t it ironic that “facebook” rarely has anything to do with being face to face?  It is however a book.  Many times our “friends” are an open book, and we’re free to sit back, turn the pages and be privy to their entire life, day in and day out.  We know what they find funny, what irritates them and what is so important that they have to p0st it for the world (or at least the people they consider “friends” ) to see.

I guess I’m glad I still get to make the decision to read it or blow past it.

You could probably say, “I’m blessed”.