Like the cruel social climate of high school, on FB we decide if someone gets to be our friend. If they want into our club, they must be accepted as a part of the social herd. But even if they win our acceptance, we can unsubscribe to their posts (gasp!). In an act of even greater social sorting, we can choose our BFFs by designating them as “close friends”. I have often wondered if there is a way to find out who has unsubscribed to my posts, but the truth is- just like the note someone passed about me in AP American History, I don’t really want to know.
On Facebook, we put our best face forward, like it’s the first day of school and we want to make our ex-boyfriend see all that he gave up. Shazaam! Look at my killer profile pic, the amazing food I can cook, and my awesome trip to Hawaii!! It can be hard not to look like you’re showing off. It can be even harder not to feel like you’re the only person struggling through your day as all the shiny photos and funny posts pop up in your news feed. But then again, reality is not always pretty. No one probably wants to see the bags under my eyes, my (going on four days) unwashed hair, or hear a detailed description of the history lesson I just taught my kids, so here they come- more photos of cakes and kids playing in the yard!
Remember how people in high school would drive up on their birthdays with their cars covered in shoe polish notes proclaiming the happy day? Facebook has taken that place in the social media world. Your birthday will not be overlooked if your Facebook friends have anything to say about it. Ignore the fact that a website reminded them in multiple ways to wish you a glorious year. Soak it up- they really love you, man! Plus it cost them absolutely nothing to send their well-wishes. Happy Birthday!!
Just like high school, on Facebook the gossip train never ends. We get to see all the photos and posts our friends like or comment on- even if the photo is of people we have never seen before, or the post is written by a total stranger. Also, commenting on a photo is apparently a lifelong commitment. We will be notified the minute someone else comments on the photo of our friend’s baby at the pumpkin patch that we declared was “So cute!” a year ago. But then again, I want to know what you think of that baby in the pumpkin patch, so I click on the notification every.single.time.
On Facebook, we like, totally can share every single word and link that, like, might begin to bloom or blossom or bubble up in our brain. We must share it all, because someone may find it all helpful, or interesting, or good, or like, fully, wickedly cool. Just like the chatty high school lunch room, there’s, like, totally no limit to our verbosity on Facebook. Yes, I attended high school in Southern California, and this is, like, totally, how we, like, all talked…(not really).
In high school there we were almost constantly pressed to talk like “they” talked, wear what “they” wore, like the same music “they” liked, etc., etc., etc. Potential shunning, humiliation, and social disaster were the doom of almost anyone who swam against the stream. Now on Facebook, we risk being shunned and labeled as a person who hates soldiers, babies, America, God, sacrificial love, animals etc. if we don’t “like” certain posts. There’s some serious social media bullying going on out there. I admit I have consciously chosen not to “like” the photo of Jesus on the cross because the post said if I didn’t do it I my hated for God was proven. Well, that’s just not biblical. I wish I had been this bold and that smart in high school….
