A Rant for the Early 21 Century

Okay, I admit I spend time every day on Facebook and I spend some time each week on Instagram.  I read my email first thing in the morning and I use my phone to text my husband so we can find each other in Costco. If I have a question, an answer, at least a superficial one, is as close as my phone.  I don't have to look in book 12 of the Encyclopedia Britannica as I used to do when I was in junior high school.  All I need to do is type in a search term. My phone which is usually in my pocket also tells me the number of steps I take in a day giving me a measure of how fit, or unfit I am.

I always have a camera with me and it takes decent pictures if my goal is to post them or just show someone the two crows in a tree that I saw on my walk the other day. I've even used images from my phone to make Christmas cards and they turned out pretty well.

I can see my friends in BC and England when we chat on Skype; it doesn't cost me a bundle in long-distance charges, and when one of them calls me and I don't hear the call, I get an email message to alert me.

I always have a book in my pocket and I can always play a game if I'm waiting for an appointment. I can listen to books when I'm cleaning the house or working with hand tools in the shop. I enjoy all of these perks of technology.

What I don't enjoy is when Facebook starts telling me what to do or what kind of a person I am based on what I do with a post.  "99% of people won't repost this."  The implication is that 'good' people, 'worthy' people will repost and the rest of the readers won't. I'm here to tell you, upfront, that I will likely not repost something with such a message attached. Maybe part of it is just being bloody minded, or my toddler-self speaking,"Don't tell me what to do 'cause you're not the boss of me!"  I think more likely though, it's the idea that a relationship or a person's character can be reduced to what she does with one post.  Really?

If you are my friend, or part of my family (and you won't likely be looking at this post unless you fall into one of those categories) you understand that our relationship is based on mutual interests, shared experiences, shared laughter, admiration, affection, and respect - among other things. At the heart of it, what irritates me about these posts it that they are demeaning, designed to evoke feelings of guilt or inadequacy. By now I can hear the eye-rolling, "You're overreacting, don't take it so seriously, get a life!"

For me, it's a bit like the tiny pebble in your boot at the beginning of a hike.  At first you ignore it, manage to shift it around so it doesn't cause too much discomfort.  As the hike progresses it becomes harder and harder to take a step without hitting that annoying pebble. You don't want to be bothered taking off your boot so you keep going. Soon you have a hot-spot, then a blister and you have to take the boot off, shake out the pebble and patch up the damage as best you can. Others on the hike aren't bothered because they don't have pebbles in their boots.

So, I'm acknowledging the pebble and taking my boot off.  In most cases I choose not to play the repost game because, 'No one reads my Facebook page' and "99% of my friends won't repost this' are 2 of my own personal pebbles. Other pebbles include: "You won't believe what happened next." "She applies make-up to half her face. When she's done my mouth fell open." It isn't only the lack of verb agreement that bothers me, but that's the subject of a separate rant.