Monday, February 18, 2013

Don't tell me what to like or re-post

I'll decide on my own what I like or wish to share.  I find any attempt to divide people into good and bad teams based on their choice to promote the post or not an insult to my intelligence.

When I see a post that includes the words "Like if you ..." or "Share if you ..." the last thing in the world I want to do is like or share. Not only do I not like the suggestion of chain letters inherent in such exhortations, but the posts themselves are often pointless.

For example, one of my Facebook connections put up the following picture post:



Really, this is beyond absurd. Why not then have "Like if you wish AIDs/stroke/dementia/asthma/diabetes/tuberculosis/malaria/
didn't exist." In fact, you can put in "Like if you wish flat tires didn't exist" or "Like if you wish blackouts (especially during Super Bowls) didn't exist."

Another Facebook connection put up the following, including the odd capitalization, shift from noun to adjective in "spousal" and use of "anytime" when "anything" was likely the word intended:


Abuse of anytime is Despicable - Animal , child or spousal


‎In other words, if I don't re-post that chain letter in a jpg, I prove I don't have a heart. Very intelligent way to promote your cause. And just how will  spreading this post help protect any child, spouse, or animal from abuse?

I see examples like these as social media at its worst in terms of equating a share with real care. People believe they are doing something for a worthy cause when, in fact, their actions do nothing to improve the situation. Liking and sharing does not contribute to safety, prevention, or research. It just allows people to show that they  consider themselves sensitive and caring individuals with nothing more than a click.

3 comments:

  1. I'm with you on this one. But I wouldn't even bother with a post saying so.

    I like it when I have a discussion about a difficult topic like cancer online, and when that discussion actually goes smoothly. It's not so simple - I don't support Pink, for example, because it feels like supporting corporations instead of giving/discussing more ideas about prevention. But if there's no discussion about a difficult topic, no way I'm going to like it.

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    1. I didn't post a link to FB on blog post, though I did to G+, which I hope will avoid that path of mindless sharing -- at least in my own circles.

      I once had a standoff on FB with someone who was pushing one of those mindless memes, something about what kind of fruit you feel like, which they claimed will help the cause for a cure like the idiotic bra color meme did. In truth, the color status thing was not even put out by Komen or any other organization. People just assumed that it was linked, and because of that many visited the site. Some thought there could be no downside to that, but not all women who have had breast cancer were altogether pleased by the meme.
      I also agree with you about pink. I've written about that in "Beyond Pink" here http://uncommoncontent.blogspot.com/2012_10_01_archive.html

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