Is Facebook turning into a Complaining Nation?
I'm here to say this: Please hide people, pages, and apps that annoy you or delete your Facebook. It's called a SOCIAL MEDIA OUTLET. What part of "social" don't you understand?
I can't decide if this blog will irritate people or if they will agree. At the risk of sounding cocky, I've decided it doesn't matter. People will either choose to read this particular blog, or they will pass it by – which is what I do on Facebook. No one made it law to have to read every single post or comment. My newsfeed is made up of several things:
1) Friends I have friended or granted permission to be my friend. It's a choice, people. If you know someone is politically different than you and can't stand what they post DON'T BE THEIR FRIEND. Chances are you will become annoyed and complain.
2) Pages I have liked. Every time you like a page it will show its updates and links. This is not news. If you don't want to see random updates, then stop liking pages. Either that or "unlike the page."
3) Social Readers, apps, and games show up in my newsfeed. Because I play Words with Friends, all my friends that play will show up in my feed. And while we're on the subject of Social Readers, let's not pretend that we don't read articles that are interesting or even a bit titillating. Shall we pretend that we're holier-than-thou because we don't read them? Or judge others because they do? Again, this is SOCIAL MEDIA. We are people. We read things that interest us whether it's in your moral code or not.
I maintain a blog, a business blog, a Facebook page, a business Facebook page, a Twitter account, and a business Twitter account. If I could be a Social Media director somewhere, that's what I would be. I love the thrill of maintaining these accounts and what it brings to me. I don't remember, though, that it says anywhere that I have to read every single thing on these pages. I skim, I stop at what interests me, and I sift through. I update, post links to my articles, scour the net for more things to post or write about, and post and update again. If something annoys me, I keep going or hide it. Simple. If what I write doesn't interest people, then I they should skip it and keep going. Voila, all annoyances avoided.
I truly believe that Social Media outlets are a tool and a blessing. They keep us in touch with long lost friends, and allow us to come into their world. The key word here is "allow" because after all, it is a CHOICE. If you don't want to reconnect, then don't. If you can't stand that guy that hates the president, don't friend him. If you know a certain person plays game after game, then block the game from your Timeline. If someone is a Republican and someone else is a Democrat and both are fuming at what the other one is posting, then it's time to un-friend. Is Facebook really worth having hateful feelings sent out via cryptically-pointed postings? I've learned the hard way that we don't all feel the same about issues - hurts, judgment, and misguided comments lead to very bitter waters indeed.
This morning I viewed a comment thread that I found very interesting. It was about a book that is all the rage right now. There are long waiting lists at the library for this book in several area libraries, and all over the net people are talking about it. I looked it up and since Missy and books go hand in hand, regardless of what is was about, I was interested. I may even buy it. That said, this thread of comments was a lively discussion full of energy and fun. At the very bottom, at least when I read it, was a comment that took the F out of FUN: "I Googled the book and 'No thanks.' In those seven words were judgment, disdain and scorn. The fun convo ended and no one has posted since. Negativity, in its truest form, kills. Like the old saying, if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all. This goes for posts, comments, updates and links we don't like.
Facebook is an open forum to whomever we decide to call friend. We set our own privacy settings. If we're having a bad day, we go to it for encouragement. A Facebook birthday? There's nothing like it. Catching up on photos of friends and their families? Priceless.
Reading every day how people are annoyed at all these post and comments they are tired of? DELETE.