My love/hate relationship with Facebook

I’m sure I am not alone when I say I have a love/hate relationship with Facebook.  There are things I absolutely love about the social media site… keeping connected with family & friends who live far away, seeing humorous posts that lighten the day, reading educational articles that someone reposted, finding new ideas from home decor to recipes.  These are all things that keep me on Facebook.

Then there are the things I hate…

But before I make that list, let me tell you how my hatred for Facebook came to be.

It all started on New Years Eve, right before 2017.  During a moment of down time, I checked my Facebook account to see how everyone was doing.  A post about a California law caught my attention.  I did what most people do… I read a couple paragraphs of the article, and then I reposted it.  HUGE MISTAKE!  The article basically said that there was a law in California that was passed that would make it legal for underage kids to be on the streets working as prostitutes.  The article went on to say that this law would make it illegal for police to arrest a minor who was working as a prostitute.  I was outraged by this thought.  It could be legal for a minor to be a prostitute?  Really?  Obviously there was more to the story… but because it was New Years and I was an idiot… I didn’t do any more research.  I just posted the article.  My reasoning was that I wanted to get the word out that this was becoming a law and that people should be aware and rebel against this law.  Maybe by reposting I could help others become aware of this law and maybe, just maybe… it could make a difference.

It did make a difference… but not one that I was prepared for.

So, after I reposted the article I put down my device for awhile.  But right before the ball dropped, I jumped back on Facebook… and that’s when the ball dropped on me.  During the time I had been away from Facebook, my “friends” had read my post.  And they began to comment about the article.  But they weren’t commenting about how wrong the law was.  Instead they were commenting on how unfair this article was of representing the democratic party.

Wait.  What?

Evidently the article continued on stating that the reason this law was passed was because the majority of democrats in California had passed the law.  It seemed my “friends” had missed the point of my post.  Instead they began making it a political statement in my comments section.  Two of my friends were fighting with two other friends in my comments.  And the fight was getting ugly.  Then it turned on me.

I began to be bullied by my friends.  They threatened to “unfriend” me.  They commented that I should know better and then brought my children into the argument.  And that’s when I got angry.  They were attacking me… my opinions… and then calling me a bad mother for having those opinions.  I was outraged that these people were even a part of my social ring.

I lost friends that night.  But I gained insight into our human behavior and how social media has become a reflection of where humanity is going.  People who I considered my friends would NEVER have attacked me the way I was attacked that night if they were face to face with me.  But because they could hide behind their keyboard, they felt safe.  They didn’t have to see my reaction.  They couldn’t see my reaction.  They couldn’t see my face change in horror or my hands shake as I tried to respond to their words.  No they saw none of it.  They had the perfect platform to be a bully and there were no REAL consequences to their actions.

I also learned that night that I could not share my opinions openly on social media.  I learned that if the majority thinks one way, and my thoughts differ from them… then I become a target for attack.  The same people that scream “Freedom of expression!,” “Free Speech!,” are the same people who will criticize and condemn anyone who expresses a different opinion from them.  I learned that society has changed.

And thus began my hatred for Facebook.

I hate that I feel hindered to post things.  I hate that I won’t post things that I believe are worth posting.  I hate that I have conformed to the “Political Correctiveness” of society.  I hate that I have “friends” who can’t be open-minded and allow other people’s opinions to challenge them.

But mostly I hate how this whole experience has changed my view of people and humanity.  I want to see the good in people.  I want to believe that deep down, everyone has good in them.  I want to believe that we are a society that is free to share opinions and capable of disagreements.  But, after all of this, I hold much doubt.  Only time will tell where we go as a society and civilization.  Until then, I will continue my love/hate relationship with Facebook and other social media sites.