I have some pretty ridiculous Facebook friends. At times when I flash through my news feed I feel as though I am living, or have lived, a double life. I definitely have two camps of friends.
Those that are my “friends” because we went to school (grade school or college) together and we’ve accepted our mutual friend requests out of politeness.
Then are there are my friends – those people I actually know and like, people I hang out with or miss because I don’t see them nearly enough.
*Let’s rewind and remember that I went to private, Christian school from daycare until graduation*
I honestly don’t care what you believe in, what your hobbies are, what you are up to…
I mean, I care. I want to hear about your life, I want to know that things are going well for you, want to be supportive when they are not. I want to “stay in touch.”
Every Sunday morning, my Facebook feed goes into overload. Bible verses quoted in full and at length. Entire paragraphs from the pastor’s sermon earlier in the day. Photos to boot.
Like I said, I don’t really care what you believe in. And that’s great that you believe in something. But really people, do we need this shoved in our faces day in and day out?
What’s more is that come Monday morning, lots of these same people are posting other random crap that totally dissolves whatever stance they were taking on Sunday.
“And ye shall be so damned unto hell for the deeds of your youth – he smote them down for their “sexting” and their Google search queries…” an hour later “I just finished 50 Shades of Grey y’all!” (Okay so this one I sort of made up – the phrasing – but the situation is real. I thought it would be mean to post my friends entire wall that literally went from quoting Bible verses about adultery to posting reviews and notices from goodreads about 50 Shades.
People are giant walking conundrums if you ask me.
And it’s not just religion. I get to see the anti-Obama, God loves Mitt Romney, Mitt Romney sucks – re-elect Obama crap throughout the whole week – not just Sundays! Bonus points for having political viewpoints that last all week long, I suppose.
I’ve been bad about the political postings myself from time to time but for the most part I try to play it cool. I don’t share any of theses stupid pictures (from either side) but I have found myself caught up in the moment and “taking it out on my Facebook friends” – really giving ‘em a piece of my mind! Yeah, congratufrickinlacions to me – being loud and obnoxious about your beliefs – religious, political, food centered, whatever it is that you’re into – shut up already. Remember that age-old adage “actions speak louder than words” – they do. ACT.
I know what I believe (religiously and politically) and I feel that it is better to act through my beliefs than broadcast them nonstop. Show people what you believe rather than shout your beliefs over a mega phone. Facebook is your megaphone.
Okay, okay there are plenty of people who might complain about what I post on FB too – another picture of my kids, another link to my blog, another this or that. I know this and so, I’m very nice about what people post and what people say because heck – we all get to have an opinion and we all get to be as obnoxious with it as we choose.
But a line has been crossed, folks. And I’m not talking toes on the line, let’s-review-the-play kind of crossed. Way over the line.
People on my Facebook feed have started posting about their menstrual cycles, their ovulation (or lack thereof) and attempts to get pregnant, they’ve posted pictures of dog puke and dog poop (I’ll save you from the proof but trust me that this has actually occurred on my newsfeed), they’ve started talking about health problems in infinite detail… basically way, way, way too much information and gross information at that.
I would love for there to be the following settings on Facebook all of which would be an option to select:
- Hide random crap from news feed. Random crap includes (and then you could select what you thought to be random crap)
- Hide postings of religious or political nature.
- Only show things original content, words actually typed into status box. Hide all shares of non-original content. (You know those people that re-post every meme and some-e-card they see…)
Come on folks, we’re sick of it! We want to be friends with people from highschool, college, old jobs – the whole shebang. We want to stay in touch and say hello, see that your life is going well, that you are happy or can make a funny quip about a sitcom we’re both watching. In short, we want to be FRIENDS. You wouldn’t meet a friend for coffee and start spewing all this nonsense in their face. Stop doing it to us the moment we wake up and log in.
Dude, I’m all for freedom of speech. What I want is freedom of listening. Please and thank you.
What settings would you add to Facebook if you could? What do your friends post about that crosses the line?
*And yes, all of the above photos are direct screen shots from my newsfeed.
Hypocrisy is massively irritating – to me personally and I am sure, to most others as well. When I see behavior (acts) that deviate from declarations of virtues, moral, religious beliefs, principles, etc., I too quickly pull the trigger on charging the offender with hypocrisy. That is when I start mouthing verses such as “Faith without works is dead”.
The funny thing is, I don’t do the same thing when I see behavior deviate from declarations if the subject matter deals with topics such health, fitness, nutrition or business practices. For example, if someone declares that they are going to eat healthy and subsequently eat a ton of junk food, I don’t refer to them as hypocrites or say something like “Good nutrition without good food is dead.”
In both cases (the religious and the nutritional) the declarant is declaring the goal – “the high calling” if you will. In both cases, we humans are fallible and fall off the wagon from time to time whether it is on our religious walk or on our daily exercise walks. In both cases, when I see one of my friends fall, I should be there to help go back on the path to achieve their (righteous) goals of whatever nature.
Samuel Johnson said: “Nothing is more unjust, however common, than to charge with hypocrisy him that expresses zeal for those virtues which he neglects to practice; since he may be sincerely convinced of the advantages of conquering his passions, without having yet obtained the victory, as a man may be confident of the advantages of a voyage, or a journey, without having courage or industry to undertake it, and may honestly recommend to others, those attempts which he neglects himself.”
I wish I could say that my speech is always spoken with grace, seasoned with salt, that I may know how I ought to answer my friends and family in their time of need but unfortunately I often miss the mark. My journey to do better continues…