The other day as our group of moms were walking home from school, I was telling them that I would love to decorate for Christmas but it was to soon because I still wanted to experience Thanksgiving. This oddly lead us into a whole conversation about Facebook and how weird people can be on it. It got me thinking about a lot of stuff I see on and hear about on social media between, Facebook and twitter.
Don't get me wrong, I love Facebook and use it all the time- maybe more than I should be. But speaking in general terms and I admit to doing most if not all of these things, I figured I might have a slight rant prior to the holidays to maybe get people to think about how they project themselves on social media. I am not calling out anyone specific but it is more about generalities.
First and foremost, remember that when you post stuff, make it meaningful. I am tired of nine million placard thingy with inspirational sayings on them that everyone and their brother post. I admit to having done one or two on occasion but instead of say something with your own words that is meaningful. When you do something in excess it loses meaning and maybe you need to see someone professionally if you need all of the inspirational mojo on a daily basis.
Pictures- yes I love to see pictures but not twenty of the same or in general of weird stuff. Be mindful when you take a picture not to take something that might compromise someone's privacy i.e. they are unaware of you taking the picture. Yeah we all got big laughs of the Walpeople but now it seems open season to take photos of anything they find weird. You know what most others will not find it weird, funny or bizarre especially when you don't pretense it with any thing. The picture of the blob might suppose to be a funny picture of your kid or a UFO, I have zero idea.
Also don't post gross, scary or bizarre photos. I have seen one two many broken bones, or surgery scars that I can never be unseen. This was a real conversation between my mother and I about a month ago. My mom calls me in a panic that I need to log into her page and some how get rid of the giant bug picture someone had posted. I tried and she refused for days to go on till she was sure it was gone. She told me she had nightmares about it. There are things you just can't be unseen and honestly I really don't want to know that about you. This also falls in line that I don't really want to know the full details of how sick you are. It is okay to say I am under the weather but writing a paragraph about your bowel movements isn't my thing.
Language needs to be toned down. I am tired of people going on rants with some many colorful words. My kid can read now and often times, she walks up behind me and reads what is being written. My kid reads really well and spells pretty good so I can't even spell those words around her. This goes hand in hand with posting about politics. If you post it be warned you will get a variety of comments. I feel you should play nice even when you don't agree with the others views. We live in democracy and if you want to put faith in one side or another- you have that right but just call others names because they don't agree.
Facebook is great for giving great news as well as sad news. Though why must I have to read about the mundane like every song you are currently listening too, or the weather right now. This goes hand in hand with the excess posting of inspirational quotes. After awhile, I tune you out and will miss something important. I understand we need to vent but declaring your life on a daily basis a disaster gets old. Basically you are that person looking for sympathy and you are not going to get it from me. I won't delete you but I will hid you and only read your posts when I need to feel better about myself.
Remember that every time you post something it represents you and will live on and on with in cyber space. I don't know how many times someone puts something that is no bodies business as their status and believe me it does live on. So as a mom (see I was getting to it) I need to teach the kids good digital citizenship which is something that are starting to teach in school. So here is the thing, go forth and enjoy life and don't tell everyone about it all the time. Step away from the computer and maybe actually use your phone once in in awhile as an actual phone to call and have a meaningful conversation.
So as the holidays kick off, I will one likely have less friends on my list after reading this and two still have to endure the ones who kept me endless reasons they are thankful for because they don't think they are like that. I will still post something useless like pictures of my kids and I will still fawn over your cat dressed as Santa Claus. Yes it is the time of year where all of this will play out. Let the holiday season begin!
Rebecca Benson is a League City stay at home mom who has lived here since 2003 when her husband took a job on the International Space Station program. She followed soon after working on the same program for nearly six years when she started staying home with the kids. Rebecca loves to craft, scrapbook, sew, and embrace motherhood. Rebecca has a blog called Mommiedom ((http://queenmommiedom.blogspot.com/) where she talks about all the things in her life not just those “confessions”.
