Facebook

I want to begin by saying that I love Facebook. It opens doors and creates wonderful opportunities for personal communication and business growth. That said, it also provides people out there with a platform to show the world what idiots they are. I'm not just talking about misspelled words and grammatical errors here. Goodness knows there are plenty of those out there. THEY'RE going to THEIR house, which is over THERE in Mississippi. YOU'RE not going to believe YOUR eyes when you see it! I could go on. I find errors in magazines for fun. Wait, who am I kidding? I haven't actually read a magazine in years. A quick flip through and half of one article is all that my kids will allow.
I think anyone who's ever taught the English language to a group of students would be horrified by what they saw on Facebook, or maybe they would have proof that their students actually learned something. I guess it could work both ways. My particular pet peeve with Facebook is my young friends. Yes, yes, I know. I could simply ignore their friend requests or block them. Here's the thing: if I did that, it's like telling them, "I don't want to be your friend on Facebook because I'd like to be vulgar and use explicit language. I'd also like to laugh at and share highly inappropriate photos that I wouldn't let my own kids see with 600 or so of my closest friends. But I'll sit across from you at church on Sunday and pretend that I'm a good role model."
It really does put me in a difficult position. Because sometimes I really DO want to be vulgar and use explicit language. Picture with me, if you will, Yosemite Sam in that cartoon where he had to keep from losing his temper or he wouldn't get his inheritance. Every few minutes he had to run into the other room, slam the door, and go totally frickin crazy or his head would explode. I am intimately acquainted with this emotion. I have to exercise that option often. I just try not to do it on Facebook. Sometimes I slip. We all do. But I try not to make a habit of contaminating young minds if I can help it. Which leads me to ask the question: Can't we just leave the "F" word out of some awesome ecards????? I SO want to share some of these and I can't. Plus, I'm friends with my dad and some older people I've known forever. I can't have them thinking I'm a potty mouth! That would never do. Those of you who know otherwise, you just keep your @#%!mouths shut. I know stuff about you, too.
I was just talking with one of my friends last night about her frustration at not being able to share the highly hysterical and wholly inappropriate pictures she saw yesterday because she knew it would offend some of her FB friends. She has the dreaded FB filter. I can sympathize with her, because I have it, too. Some people simply refer to it as being an adult.
Which brings me to my next point. Children do not have a FB filter, which is why it is not a good idea to let them have a freaking FB account! Yes, I understand that some adults are lacking this filter as well, particularly those in the college age range. They are on their own. I'm just trying to point out that while it might seem like a good idea right now to post that picture of you doing body shots on the bar at the Florabama, in ten years it might seem like a really BAD idea. If there are 1600 pictures of you with your friends and a drink in your hand online, it might give people the wrong idea. People who check you out when you apply for a job at the church day care. News flash: Christians know how to use Google and Facebook, too! It's hard to convince a boss that you are a studious, hard-working employee when all he can find online is pictures of you funneling a beer.
This brings me to my other major point about Facebook. And this one doesn't just apply to teens. For those of you who don't automatically know: ANYTHING YOU PUT ON FACEBOOK FOR 600 OR SO OF YOUR CLOSEST FRIENDS TO READ IS NO LONGER "PRIVATE!" A young friend of mine got angry the other night because someone went and told her mother something she put on Facebook. To which I say: YOU PUT IT ON FACEBOOK! You essentially broadcast that crap to everyone you know! And some people you don't know. Because let's face it, girls, even if you share something with "only" your friends, what's to stop them from sharing it with their friends or showing it to someone else? That's how you get stupid statuses and pictures with 50,000 "likes!" It's not just because somebody decided to share it with 50,000 of their closest friends! All I'm saying is please use your head. Divorced people, if you want to trash your spouse, do it somewhere else. Because two married people couldn't possibly have any of the same FB friends. And nobody would ever show that to your kids... If you put it out there for people to read, it is no longer private information. It's something you chose to share...with everyone you've ever known.