Facebook - Let's bring back original content

Thursday, December 11, 2014
For some time, I've been noticing that my Facebook feed has become a lot thinner on news and photos of people I care about, writings from people I respect, and links to news stories that make me think, and a lot fatter on crap.

And by "crap," I mean the junk you put on Facebook because...reasons? And by "you," I mean all you people who are otherwise intelligent and interesting people under normal circumstances, but think that your Facebook page is filled with deep wisdom and insight from all your re-posts, but is in fact banal and boring. Let's give some examples, shall we?
  1. If you look at your page and all you see is re-posts of political commentary superimposed over a photograph that may or may not be relevant, you're posting crap. If we're friends, it's a pretty good bet that I already know your political leanings, and informing me of them again, and again, and AGAIN, does not engage me to your cause or make me change my mind about MY political opinions.
  2. If you look at your page and all you see is re-posts of inspirational words that help you live a better life superimposed over a photograph that may or may not be relevant, you're posting crap. I'm happy that you're trying to maintain your mental and spiritual health, because I want you to be happy.  But quite frankly I'd rather hear about how fabulous you felt after a weekend retreat than look at just one more "words of wisdom" post.
  3. If you look at your page and all you see is re-posts of LOL cats, videos entitled "You're not going to believe what happened next," music videos, and jokes about bodily functions, you're posting crap. 
  4. If you look at your page and all you see are re-posts saying things like "I'm against child abuse! Share if you agree!" you're posting crap. Because really, what does that say about you? That you're against child abuse? As opposed to what? A re-post that says "I'm totally FOR child abuse! Beat 'em till they bleed?" And what are you trying to say about me, who refuses to re-post this crap - that I'm for child abuse by omission?
  5. If you look at your wall and all you see is a combination of items 1-4 above, you're posting crap.
Here's the thing. I use Facebook because I want to connect with the people I care about. I want to be informed about their lives, learn about their happenings and accomplishments, their triumphs and their pain. I want to look at links that provide me with thought-provoking content, and act as a spring-board for the exchange of ideas.

Do I object to occasional re-posts of something that will make me think or give me a chuckle? Of course not. I re-post such things myself occasionally, in addition to news about our new house, our crazy dog, and my daily life. But the re-posts aren't all I post.

I'm thinking I'm going to start getting brutal with the blocking. I only have so many hours left on this earth, and I don't want to waste even one more on people's Facebook pages who consist of nothing but items 1-4. I want to start using Facebook in the way I used to use it - as a tool to bring me closer to those I care about, rather than a banal and boring timesuck.

ORIGINAL CONTENT. Let's all get on board, shall we?

1 comments:

Jeri said...

I despise the "You won't believe what happened next" link bait posts. I try to block the entire site whenever I see those.