Oh, and by the way, did I tell you about my chlamydia?
I don’t do a lot of Facebook. I dip in and out occasionally, but I find it eats up time more greedily than even tequila, so I ration myself accordingly. I like the swiftness of Twitter more, although that too can be bit time-hungry. Anyway, having dipped my toe into the Facebook waters again recently, I was surprised by how some people share such deeply emotional and personal issues on there with so many people. (Now, if your Facebook feeds are only ever going to be viewed by close friends and family, and you don’t have any ‘acquaintances’ or only-online mates on there, this might be okay. But how many of us have that? Hmmm?) And it’s not just the revelations. It’s also how these same people then baulk at some of the responses they get; commenting back that they were not expecting people to be so mean/angry/nasty/spiteful/unsympathetic.
Why?
Did they think that because they’ve chosen to wash their laundry in public that the responders were not then allowed to comment on the colour and condition of their Agent Provocateur g-string? Did they believe that airing their angst should only merit sympathetic responses from their followers because if they follow X, surely they must love everything about X and only say nice things about them?
Come on, people. Really?
If I walked into a room full of people, half of whom I only knew tangentially, and started to spout on about my physical, mental and emotional problems, I know for a fact that at least a few of them would want to slap me about the face and tell me to get a bloody grip. Yes, some of them would be genuinely sorry for me. Some would try and give me useful advice and moral support. Empathy would be shown by some, sympathy by others. But some, some would want to tell me to shut the hell up. Because, guess what? We’ve all got problems. It’s how we choose to deal with them, and whom we choose to talk about them with that matters. By all means ask for help and/or advice, but maybe opt not to do so online in a public forum if you don’t want some of that advice to be contrary to your expectations and wishes.
This is something that the internet generation struggle to cope with. My own daughter often posts stuff that I think she would be better keeping to herself, and when I tell her she’s opening herself up to some responses she will not like, she shrugs, only to tell me later on that so-and-so upset her by making snide comments about those very same posts. At a time when we all feel the need to tell everyone and anyone who gives a shit what we are having for lunch, it’s important to remember that not everything that comes out of the washing machine needs hanging out on the line for the whole world to look at.
