Facebook is a entity without moral standards, without expectations either from itself or from others, and is an arena in which we can be either at our worst, or at our best behaviour. Â I have bemoaned the distance that it creates in our relationships, yet at the same time appearing to allow us to be closer. Â There is a superficial level that we never aspire to rise above, which perhaps is a poor reflection on our current society. Â In particular, there seems to be an aversion to sensible debate, or even common sense statements. Â I find myself reading the status updates of various friends (not a big issue, I have at the most about 30 friends on FB, positively tiny compared to others), wanting to criticise the generalisations, and contradict just because of the 2 dimensional view being presented. Â Of course, a fair number of these people are actually real life friends as well, so just as tact filters the rubbish coming out of my mouth (most of the time), I filter myself online.
But this is my space ….. so please indulge me while I have a little rant.
“Without children my house would be clean, my wallet would be full, but my heart would be empty”. Â I know childless people who are messy, who never learn to save, who love those around them with reckless abandon, and who are loved with the same zeal. Â While I adore my children, they don’t define me, and I don’t think that its fair to infer that childless people are somehow cashed up, soul-less husks, living a half life of misery.
“Its not who you are that holds you back, its who you think you’re not” ……. huh? Â Ok, so if I stop telling myself that I am not the queen of england, eventually I will become her? Â Please at least try to make sense!
“Long winded rant about the benefits of being beaten as a child. Â Repost if you got your butt whipped and survived”. Â Now this one I did reply to and she deleted my comment. Â See in my childhood, I got my butt whipped, my face slapped, my arms punched, my back slapped, whipped with a horse whip, belts, wooden spoon, straps, and various handy sticks. Â I may have survived but it certainly did NOT do me any good. Â Physical correction alone does not make for great parenting. Â Harking back to the good ole days is silly. Â Society, and people are vastly different now, and we need to find new ways to establish parental authority without inflicting pain on our children.
“Long winded drivel about the latest topic of interest in the world …………. 95% will care, and repost, 5% won’t care, and will ignore this.” Â Does my friend really think I am a heartless soul who doesn’t care about Down Syndrome/Autistic Children? or Womens Rights? Â or Mental Health? Â Just because I choose to not pester my other friends and family with trite comments, doesn’t mean I don’t care. Â Didn’t mean to infer that? Â Well then don’t post it.
Now I know that my friends don’t always believe these trite statements, or at least appreciate the message on a certain level. Â I have sensible, intelligent friends and family … I know that. Â But when its the only contact you have, you start to wonder if your FB friends are really as one dimensional as they appear. Â That while they try to appear tolerant, they are in essence promoting a singular, intolerant view. Â And often these little windows in life, make them appear limited, when I know they aren’t. Â Worse still, as with the smacking issue, the poster’s aren’t interested in creating a conversation. Â Its about passing judgement on others, and claiming the higher moral ground.
Not a great reflection on FB, or our society.
