It would make for interesting performance art to put someone on a street corner and have them shout out the things posted on people’s Facebook feeds. Interesting in the way a Westboro Baptist Church protestor or a street prophet of questionable sanity is interesting. You’d want to duck your head, refuse to make eye contact, and hurry on.
This occurred to me the other night while wading through my Facebook feed. If a person’s Facebooking is a snapshot of their life, there are some of my friends I really have to feel bad for. They live to be offended, and seem to have few interests outside of freaking out over the latest injustice in their sphere of attention. They live angry, reactionary lives while providing little value other than to validate other angry, reactionary people. Granted, to look at my feed would probably suggest I have no life at all–and that’s probably true.
But, as I’ve observed many times before, I have to wonder if these people would really be like this in person. If they found themselves on a streetcorner with a handy soap box, would they choose to shout to the masses the same things they post to the masses online? I know I wouldn’t. I’m emboldened by the fact that my Facebook friends are supposedly just that–friends, and therefore might have some interest in what I have to say.
It makes me wonder what sort of image I project to my friends online. Hopefully I’m the wise old guy in the corner who only speaks when he has something interesting or useful to say. I doubt it, though. I’m probably the annoying guy who randomly blurts out something, but mostly just says, “If you want to know what I think, you’ll need to follow this link and read something long and tedious.” I rarely post much on Facebook, other than a link to my daily blog post. I probably comment more on other people’s posts than I post my own material.
But I digress. I understand a little negativity here and there, but there are people who spew up several dozen negative posts at a time, mostly angry reactions or reposting of other people’s angry reactions. I feel sorry and helpless–these people are clearly experiencing pain, are quite obviously not enjoying their life, and yet there is nothing I can do to help them. They would probably respond to my efforts to help with more angry reaction.
How do we help these people, I wonder. How do we reach out to those who seems as though they’re crying out for it, but in a medium very un-conducive to rendering true help? Social media is very good for broadcasting your hurt and pain, but very poor for responding to it in an effective, caring, personal way.
At the very least, I hope I don’t become like that myself. The world doesn’t need more negativity. The trick is learning how to become part of the solution.