I don't know if it has to do with summer heat, kids being out of school or boredom, but whatever the cause, I have noticed in the past few weeks more than a few friends posting about their irritations with other peoples posts on Facebook.
I have been thinking about it for a while and to be honest, trying not to let it bother me, but then another one popped up and I feel the need to rant.
To me, what makes Facebook and Twitter so much fun is the ability to connect or reconnect with people that you otherwise would not see or talk to on a daily basis. It gives us all a little glimpse of what that person's life, family and feelings are like. I love reading about what people are doing, thinking, feeling, celebrating and what they are passionate about. There is not one of my friends on Facebook that is anything like any other friend on there. It is awesome and refreshing! Here we all are so extremely different and connecting with each other with whatever form of personal expression we are good at. The people who are "lurkers" on both sites are the most uninteresting because they never post, but only look at other's pages. They add nothing and if we all did that there would not be anything to read on there at all.
What has made me sad over the past few weeks are comments on Facebook telling people that they hate this kind of post or that kind of post. Some don't like seeing all the game stuff pop up, some hate any discussion of politics, some hate seeing religious messages on there, some can't stand people selling things, others can't stand constant talk of bodies and workouts. Even one who complained about people posting too many pictures of their kids and family. Geez! Take all those things off Facebook, and I am not sure I would find it half as interesting as I do now.
I don't agree with everyone that I am friends with or that I follow, but I do enjoy reading their points of view or seeing what they are working on or thinking about right now. I have friends from about every religion on my list and it is fun to see the differences in all their celebrations, thoughts and posts, but also very interesting to see how truly similar they all really are. As long as I don't have to read anything about someone's belief that I am going to hell because I don't share their same beliefs, I enjoy figuring out what they believe and why. I read opposing thoughts about politics and honestly learn something from all that are intelligent. I have even had a change of heart on subjects that I thought I felt strongly on because of conversations I have been a part of or read. I enjoy joining in on a political discussion because that is what interests me, as do seeing pictures of my friends families or vacations or new babies. I enjoy sharing photos of my family so that all my relatives can see them since we can't always get together, and I LOVE seeing all my cousins, nieces and nephews growing up before my eyes and feeling like I am a part of it even though I live hundreds of miles away.
I think that telling all your Facebook friends that you are sick of their types of posts is insensitive. There is a hide button that you can activate on any person that you feel that way about, but first, you might want to consider the things that you post and how that affects other people as well.
Our nation is in turmoil right now. People seem to be heated up over one thing or another. People are flocking to or away from religion right now so there is a push to talk about religion all the time on Facebook. Our country is in an economic crisis and dealing with ineffective leadership and that gets all sorts of discussions and arguments stirred up passionately. The crisis also motivates people to try to share ways to make money or sell things. The US is obese and that makes people want to share their exercise and weight loss ideas. In my life I have never lived through so much hardship and turmoil as we are experiencing right now as a country, and it makes us all over reactive and pretty judgmental if you ask me.
I am guilty of just about everything on the list that these people have complained about. I would apologize for posting ideas, thoughts, beliefs or whatever else on Facebook, but honestly, I am not sorry, and I hope that those of you who do the same are not sorry either. I hope you will continue to interest me with your posts and enlighten me with your views and ways of thinking. I look forward to your recipes and your pictures of your children, your political thoughts and your healthy informative information. My suggestion for all of the people who don't like these things is to get off Facebook. Anyone who posts anything at all on here is guilty of one of the listed offenses and if you are to complain about one it is probably not any more annoying to someone else than what they post is to you.
Mostly, relax!!! You don't have to buy their products, agree with them politically, make their recipes, hang out with their friends, run the same distance, go to their church, look at their pictures, comment on their song list, play their games etc.... All you have to do is be nice and if you can't... go to the top of your Facebook page and read about how to hide the people who annoy you. PLEASE because your negativity annoys me!!! :)
