One thing that I refuse to partake in on Facebook are those “chain” messages that people post on their Facebook page, saying things like “show your support for those affected by the floods… re-post this status”.
Ostensibly… showing support for worthy causes is a good thing. But running an eye down my Facebook news feeds and seeing such posts, signed off with “repost this to show your support” blah blah, just really grates me the wrong way. For some reason I am extremely averse to it, but I am unable to articulate, even to myself, why I feel this way.
Can someone please attempt to articulate it for me?
I can’t stand that shit, even if it’s for something I feel strongly about, I think because I don’t like the sentiment that if I don’t repost it, that I’m somehow uncaring or “against” the issue.
I mean, I’m all for awareness, but is this somehow supposed to make anyone, anyone at all feel any better about anything? It just smacks of “LOOK AT ME, AND HOW MUCH I CARE! AND YOU DON’T IF YOU DON’T REPOST THIS, BECAUSE HOW HARD IS IT TO REPOST SOMETHING IN ALL CAPS!!!?!”
Then their very next status is that they received a basket of fluffleberries from FarmVille.
If you have something to say, then say it with your own words.
Naw, I’d rather donate or volunteer, thankyouverymuch.
Ahh, too bad we’re not in the Pit so we could give this glurge the thorough pitting it so thoroughly deserves!
I agree on the slacktivism point. And the oooh! reverse psychology of “97% of you won’t repost this. I know the ones who will.”
Then there’s the “I have a special reason for posting this” crap. <BARF>
I would love to just block those folks’ newsfeeds, but they tend to be otherwise nice people, so I grumble and scroll by.
The ones that piss me off are the “this dog will be gassed unless we find an owner by 5pm!!!11” posts. Way to make me both miserable and pissed off at you in one fell swoop!
Even the ones where it says ‘what would you do for a friend if they were in need? Show you care by reposting’ really bug me. It’s easy to copy-and-paste and hit submit. It’s hard to take a friend in, stay up late listening to their troubles, be there when their loved one is sick and try to do things to make their life a little easier, etc.
For the people who are really friends, I usually try to post a direct reply to the effect of, 'I love you dearly and enough to be there for you, but not enough to repost a meme ’ and have gotten good responses back.
I think some people post in support of controversial topics specifically to piss people off. They know that (usually) the offended won’t reply or bother debating, but they know that having them read it is grating enough.
I think it gives them some sort of innate satisfaction.
Not in the same league as “worthy cause” posts though.
Sometimes the glurgy statuses get on my nerves enough that I make a donation to a charity and post about it with a link, but that’s because I enjoy being self-righteous. I unfriended several people over our recent census when they reposted the hysterical “OMG ALL CHRISTIANS MARK YOUR RELIGION ON THE CENSUS OR MUSLIMS WILL BUILD MOSQUES IN YOUR STREET AND BAN CHRISTMAS CAROLS FROM YOUR SCHOOLS!!!” message, but I consider those “friends” well lost.
My favorite are all the jingoistic ones that ask “who will have the GUTS to repost?!” Yeah, updating your facebook status is a super-gutsy move. I’m sure they’re planning a new edition of Profiles in Courage just to add you, asshole.
Usually when I repost a status, I set the privacy settings so that only the person I copied it from can see it. That way, as far as the previous poster can tell, I’ve done my slacktivism for the day and my other friends don’t have to see it in their newsfeeds. Everybody wins!
I am on Facebook to communicate with my friends. I want to hear their thoughts and what’s going on in their lives. I do not want them to send me other people’s thoughts. I do not want to hear about their political or religious opinions. I ABSOLUTELY don’t want to see the exact same thing from 20 different friends.
Since I don’t want to hear “set this as your status if you agree” crap from everyone else, I don’t post it myself.
I am, on the other hand, setting my status to “If you receive a message about meat in a tin, it’s spam. Please re-post this so everyone knows about it.” Right now.
A) It doesn’t work. It doesn’t change anyone’s mind or bring in more money for a charity.
B) Most of it is to support causes few people DON’T agree with or that don’'t really need even more awareness. I’m all for fighting cancer, especially since my sister was diagnosed, but who ISN’T opposed? Who needs reminding that cancer is bad?
C) This whole tactic is to make people who post it in their status feel good about themselves, especially the person who starts the whole thing. (“Wow, look at all the people I got to post this I am GOOD!”
’ and have gotten good responses back.