Like most things mainstream, I resisted Facebook for a very long time, at least in cybertrend time. When I finally caved, it was mainly to keep up with friends who have children, and others too far away or too busy to chat with regularly. You know, most people. Eventually I came to embrace Facebook for its convenience. And now that I'm a parent, posting baby pictures on Facebook is so much easier than emailing them to everyone who asks. So many times it's a hassle, as most emails bounce back because of the size of the photo files or some other issue I can't resolve. I wish my sister and sister-in-law were on Facebook, even with aliases, just for the photo sharing feature. I never have a problem uploading photos to Facebook. I'm also indebted to Facebook for allowing my young cousin in Belarus to find me and for putting me back in touch with close friends I hadn't heard from in decades. Otherwise, Facebook is really starting to annoy, even anger, me. I've been cutting back on my Facebook visits this week, and I haven't even logged on this morning. Until a particular post thread ticked me off, I was signed on to Facebook (as well as gmail) throughout the day, though I was rarely really "on" Facebook. That posed more problems, as some people didn't understand why I'd "ignore" their messages, even though I was "always" on Facebook. I have a baby. That should be obvious by my posts, which are mostly photos of my son. I am lucky to steal a few minutes to scroll through posts. If I really had the luxury of being online, not just signed on, at all times, I'd be writing or reading something other than Facebook updates.
I know I can unfriend people or just block their posts from appearing on my page, but there's part of me that's perversely drawn to the very posts that annoy and anger me. Sick, I know. That's why I'm curbing my consumption of crappy comments. We're all guilty of oversharing in some way. That's the whole premise of Facebook. Certainly most of my "friends" could care less about my most of posts and I am assume most of them just ignore them. But I know there are some people in my Facebook universe who are interested in some of my updates and it's just more convenient to post than to email everyone who might care. I'm sure I've offended or outraged plenty of my "friends" with a post or two, but my goal really isn't to share too much information. The problem with TMI on Facebook is that so much of what's out there doesn't even qualify as information. I can't imagine that anyone's friend is at all interested in what baked good you purchased for breakfast or how your morning commute was more manic than mundane because of some young woman's banal banter. You know what's worse than some blabbing bimbo? Your inane posts. We all make daily food choices and encounter irritating people, but unless your experience is somehow extraordinary or at least atypical, please consider keeping it yourself. Sure I'm guilty of occasional improper, even inappropriate, posting, but I'm not an hourly or daily offender. Nobody needs or wants to hear enough random rantings to compose your daily psychological profile.
Worse than TMI (too much idiocy) are passive-aggressive posts that beg for a reply and hope for a useless thread of emotional reactions that say nothing. Social media is not the platform for cryptic cries for help. That's when you need to pick up the phone and call a real friend, or at least send them a private message. And then there's the litany of lame reactions to news events hours, even days, after they break. Posting a quote from a famous person seconds, minutes, even a couple hours after their obit hits the wire can be pithy or at least apropos, but dragging the process way past its prime is pathetic. If you missed the news because you were offline, good for you! That means you were probably doing something constructive, even creative. You missed it. It's over. Get over it, and post nothing or something timely. Please.
And worst of all, what's really upsetting me, is the realization that too many educated, professional people are incapable of critical thinking. I rarely reply to posts other than cute photos of children or status updates that really offer an update or some information I can't find with a simple Google search. Sometimes I'm compelled to respond to a post from a "friend" I don't know very well, but refrain for fear my social or political tirade will fall on deaf ears or even be misunderstood. Sadly, when I've made the leap and given a poster I don't know well the benefit of the doubt, I am deeply disappointed by their lack of analytical thinking and the ensuing insipidity of their other "friends." There are those of us on Facebook who post for their real friends, and there are those who cater to the lowest possible denominator. I don't expect Facebook or any other social media to become a forum for great debate and discussion, but I do wish people wouldn't dumb down every idea.
I'm posting this now, so I can sign on to Facebook to promote it. Ha!
Showing posts with label Facebook. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Facebook. Show all posts
Saturday, December 4, 2010
Thursday, November 4, 2010
The Rise of the Ignorati
I know some people, including my dear sister and sister-in-law and some of my closest friends, can continue to find happiness living in the town where they were raised. I am definitely not one of those people and think the well adjusted like my sister, sister-in-law and dear friends, are the exceptions who tolerate and survive this plight relatively unscathed. I respect their decision to stay close to their hometowns, but I don't understand it. The biggest advantage to their choice is proximity to mothers and others who'd help you take care of your baby. Now that I have a son, I do wish my mother, sister and others were nearby to share in his ongoing development and give me a much-needed break for writing and working.
OK. Disclaimer's over. Do not be offended, Alexandra, Jennifer and darling friends, for I mean no ill will. It's just that I think most people, not you my dear ones, are harmed by hunkering down in their hometown.
When I visit the bucolic western Massachusetts hamlet (H. P. Lovecraft based the fictional town of Dunwich in his story "The Dunwich Horror" on Wilbraham after a visit in 1928) where I was raised, I am deeply saddening by its demise. Wilbraham is still a picturesque place with nice houses, big yards, apple orchards and an eponymous mountain where I spent many a childhood afternoon. When I was kid, it had one of the best school systems in the country, and I learned to be a socially conscious and thoughtful person in a generally nurturing community. The western portion of the People's Republic of Massachusetts was especially liberal, save for the calls we'd get in the middle of the night accusing us of being "commies," "pinkos" and "Nazis." (More on that another time. Those who know my ancestry and my mother's plight will be especially appalled.) It's almost impossible for me to imagine how someone who went to the same elementary schools at the same time could become a traitor to tolerance, humanity and common sense.
Allow me to explain. I've become Facebook friends with several childhood friends. I haven't seen or spoken to most of them since I left the fifth grade in public school to start seventh grade in a private school. Some have moved far from home, though oddly none to New York. But a staggering number have stayed put, raising kids where they were raised. I enjoy the photos and updates on their families. But for the most part, that's all there is. Most keep mum about issues that should bring their blood to a boil, most recently the travesty of Tuesday's elections. About a year ago one of them even posted about her disdain for politics and desire to never speak or think of it. How did this happen? How could a woman who learned about civics in second grade diss her duty? What's more disturbing is how many of these childhood cohorts have become Republicans. I know this by their Info tabs which include Glenn Beck and Ron Paul among their "Likes and Interests." Likely they never comment on politics because they know they'll take a verbal bruising from their liberal neighbors. But they're confident enough to come out as conservatives on Facebook.
I know many smart conservatives, as much as I could argue that's an oxymoron. My mother is one. She's kept her invite to Nixon's inaugural gala as a memento even though she married a card-carrying social democrat who was red-listed throughout my childhood and young adulthood. My mom and others I know are able to engage in thoughtful debate, and that's part of our political process and what makes life interesting. For the record, I am not a Democrat, I am a lower-case 'd' democrat. Above all, I believe in humanism. And I believe that most Republicans (and fewer registered Democrats) are anti-humanist, at least in policies they support.
I mentioned the demise of Wilbraham. It may look much like it did in the 1970s, but the political and social climate has taken a nosedive. By the 1950s, most of the urban-suburban areas of Massachusetts were largely Democratic, leaving just a couple pockets of strongly Republican rural areas in Barnstable, Nantucket, Dukes, Bristol, Berkshire, and Franklin Counties. Wilbraham is in Hampden County, surrounded by other liberal communities. Current population is 3,712 people, with 62% registered as Democrats. The street where my sister lives is representative of the town, with a median home of $259,480, down 2.37 percent from 2009. But many of the newer neighbors took advantage of fire sales by the children of older residents. These people didn't grow up in Wilbraham and weren't afforded the liberal education I benefited from as a child. Along with their pickup trucks, coolers of Coors Light and packaged foods, they brought their senseless sensibilities. They are rude, inarticulate and resentful of people like my sister, who as a former public school teacher tried to save their children from the ignorance taught at home.
Let's call these people the ignorati. I've seen other uses for the term, like a small Facebook group that says its "sole purpose ... is to promote ignoring invitations on Facebook. To join you must ignore the invitation for joining." That's not what I mean. In the case of my hometown, it's a new wave that's replaced the one-time rulers of the social and political scene, the professors and teachers and others like my parents. The literati. It's more than a malady caused by a lack of reading and analysis. They are ill-, if not misinformed on nearly every topic of consequence. I bring up Wilbraham because I've seen the sea change on my sister's street. But it's happening across the country. The trashification of our once-great nation. Complete disregard for the principles that should have been inculcated in every child, as they were in me. When I think of tragedies like the intense bullying of teens and youngsters by their peers, I suspect they're being groomed at home. I fear people who won't do more than list their party affiliation of Facebook are doing harm at home. I suspect that inside these sprawling suburban homes with perfectly manicured lawns, mothers and fathers are using terms like faggot and claiming God doesn't like homos. Where else are these kids learning it? These parents may be too scared, too intimidated by well-read, well-spoken, well-informed liberals to post their political views on Facebook, so they preach to the captive, the naive, the innocent. Please, parents, teach your children tolerance, acceptance and understanding for those with different lifestyles and backgrounds, and foster creative and critical thinking. (Don't worry, this isn’t anti-Christian. In fact, it's what your faith teaches.) Our nation is dying. Democracy is dying. Engage us liberals in debate. We like to argue, as in consider the pros and cons of any idea or ideology. Go to the polls and take your children with you. But don't teach your children to hate. Sadly, they can and will learn that on their own.
OK. Disclaimer's over. Do not be offended, Alexandra, Jennifer and darling friends, for I mean no ill will. It's just that I think most people, not you my dear ones, are harmed by hunkering down in their hometown.
When I visit the bucolic western Massachusetts hamlet (H. P. Lovecraft based the fictional town of Dunwich in his story "The Dunwich Horror" on Wilbraham after a visit in 1928) where I was raised, I am deeply saddening by its demise. Wilbraham is still a picturesque place with nice houses, big yards, apple orchards and an eponymous mountain where I spent many a childhood afternoon. When I was kid, it had one of the best school systems in the country, and I learned to be a socially conscious and thoughtful person in a generally nurturing community. The western portion of the People's Republic of Massachusetts was especially liberal, save for the calls we'd get in the middle of the night accusing us of being "commies," "pinkos" and "Nazis." (More on that another time. Those who know my ancestry and my mother's plight will be especially appalled.) It's almost impossible for me to imagine how someone who went to the same elementary schools at the same time could become a traitor to tolerance, humanity and common sense.
Allow me to explain. I've become Facebook friends with several childhood friends. I haven't seen or spoken to most of them since I left the fifth grade in public school to start seventh grade in a private school. Some have moved far from home, though oddly none to New York. But a staggering number have stayed put, raising kids where they were raised. I enjoy the photos and updates on their families. But for the most part, that's all there is. Most keep mum about issues that should bring their blood to a boil, most recently the travesty of Tuesday's elections. About a year ago one of them even posted about her disdain for politics and desire to never speak or think of it. How did this happen? How could a woman who learned about civics in second grade diss her duty? What's more disturbing is how many of these childhood cohorts have become Republicans. I know this by their Info tabs which include Glenn Beck and Ron Paul among their "Likes and Interests." Likely they never comment on politics because they know they'll take a verbal bruising from their liberal neighbors. But they're confident enough to come out as conservatives on Facebook.
I know many smart conservatives, as much as I could argue that's an oxymoron. My mother is one. She's kept her invite to Nixon's inaugural gala as a memento even though she married a card-carrying social democrat who was red-listed throughout my childhood and young adulthood. My mom and others I know are able to engage in thoughtful debate, and that's part of our political process and what makes life interesting. For the record, I am not a Democrat, I am a lower-case 'd' democrat. Above all, I believe in humanism. And I believe that most Republicans (and fewer registered Democrats) are anti-humanist, at least in policies they support.
I mentioned the demise of Wilbraham. It may look much like it did in the 1970s, but the political and social climate has taken a nosedive. By the 1950s, most of the urban-suburban areas of Massachusetts were largely Democratic, leaving just a couple pockets of strongly Republican rural areas in Barnstable, Nantucket, Dukes, Bristol, Berkshire, and Franklin Counties. Wilbraham is in Hampden County, surrounded by other liberal communities. Current population is 3,712 people, with 62% registered as Democrats. The street where my sister lives is representative of the town, with a median home of $259,480, down 2.37 percent from 2009. But many of the newer neighbors took advantage of fire sales by the children of older residents. These people didn't grow up in Wilbraham and weren't afforded the liberal education I benefited from as a child. Along with their pickup trucks, coolers of Coors Light and packaged foods, they brought their senseless sensibilities. They are rude, inarticulate and resentful of people like my sister, who as a former public school teacher tried to save their children from the ignorance taught at home.
Let's call these people the ignorati. I've seen other uses for the term, like a small Facebook group that says its "sole purpose ... is to promote ignoring invitations on Facebook. To join you must ignore the invitation for joining." That's not what I mean. In the case of my hometown, it's a new wave that's replaced the one-time rulers of the social and political scene, the professors and teachers and others like my parents. The literati. It's more than a malady caused by a lack of reading and analysis. They are ill-, if not misinformed on nearly every topic of consequence. I bring up Wilbraham because I've seen the sea change on my sister's street. But it's happening across the country. The trashification of our once-great nation. Complete disregard for the principles that should have been inculcated in every child, as they were in me. When I think of tragedies like the intense bullying of teens and youngsters by their peers, I suspect they're being groomed at home. I fear people who won't do more than list their party affiliation of Facebook are doing harm at home. I suspect that inside these sprawling suburban homes with perfectly manicured lawns, mothers and fathers are using terms like faggot and claiming God doesn't like homos. Where else are these kids learning it? These parents may be too scared, too intimidated by well-read, well-spoken, well-informed liberals to post their political views on Facebook, so they preach to the captive, the naive, the innocent. Please, parents, teach your children tolerance, acceptance and understanding for those with different lifestyles and backgrounds, and foster creative and critical thinking. (Don't worry, this isn’t anti-Christian. In fact, it's what your faith teaches.) Our nation is dying. Democracy is dying. Engage us liberals in debate. We like to argue, as in consider the pros and cons of any idea or ideology. Go to the polls and take your children with you. But don't teach your children to hate. Sadly, they can and will learn that on their own.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)