It enables me to know a little about all sorts of people I care about, and I now know more about my nieces and nephews and their children than I ever would have known via email or the telephone. I feel connected, and that matters to me.
What I don’t like, though, is when someone tries to guilt me into reposting something. Lately, that seems to be happening a lot. Today I was told that if I had a big heart I would repost a thing about being nice to children with special needs. Yesterday I was told that if I “liked” a picture of a little girl her mother would give up smoking.
Well, excuse me, but I think I have a big heart and everyone I know is already nice to children, with or without special needs. And why does that mother need her daughter to get a million “likes” before she quits smoking? She should just quit so that her daughter doesn’t have to breathe her second-hand smoke, for goodness’ sake.
No, I won’t repost those things, and I won’t “like” anything just because you ask me to. More than that, I wish you wouldn’t ask me. I am going to make a picture of a beautiful natural scene with text on it saying “Asking people to repost out of guilt is bad for the environment. Like if you agree.” That should clean up my Facebook environment quite nicely.
Snowbird of Paradise 
Like!
I don’t repost those request to get x number of Likes, either. It strikes me as very odd that people are willing to pimp out their personal lives for a decision that most grownups should be able to make on their own. It comes down to attention whoring and, while I’ve certainly been known to enjoy the spotlight, I’d like to believe that I can hold it for the brief moments of time that are healthy because I actually have something interesting to say or something substantial to contribute – not because I could guilt 1,000,000 strangers into offering what is, in the end, cheap and meaningless validation.
I agree that it is odd,MM, but I suppose I am not surprised. It’s just so easy to click the “like” or “repost” buttons and obliterate that twinge of guilt.
I agree completely. I view them as on line chain letters. I wouldn’t do chain letters before & I don’t do them now.
Chain letters! I’d forgotten all about them. 🙂
I’m with you. So much so that I pushed like here on your blog.
Cheers, thatfunnyblogguy!