I’m talking about Facebook. Again.

You know what’s annoying? Scrolling down my Facebook dashboard to see post after post of those annoying “Share if you ___” posts!

There is an arrow in the corner of each post. I chose to “Hide all from ___” for each of the original sharers’ pages. Serves you right for being annoying.

It’s like this whole new version of spam. And what’s the point of sharing it on Facebook, anyway? If you want to reblog photos, make yourself and use a Tumblr account. Problem solved.

If you want to send others’ statuses to all your friends, make and use a Twitter account.

I keep and use my Facebook because friends and family are on it, but it’s annoying, and it’s still full of junk.

Other things:

  1. I don’t remember who it was that told me about the lists and changing who can view what, but thanks! The majority of my posts on Facebook exclude those in the “Family” list. I guess I only have two types of Facebook posts: one that goes to everyone, and one that goes to everyone but family. Brilliant, huh?
  2. If I get another group invite, I’m probably going to go bonkers.
  3. If I get another event invite for something happening online, I’m probably going to punch Facebook in the face (book).
  4. Facebook pages seem so pointless to have now. I mean, if you have a lot of fans and publish those “Share ____!” pictures (i.e. junk), it seems to be great. However, if you do not, how successful will your page actually be?

On the awareness posts:

  1. Those “awareness” posts aren’t awareness. Most of the time, they’re asking me to ‘Share’ something. I don’t care how indirect it is; the point is that Facebook’s terms specifically state in multiple places not to require/try to get people to ‘Share’ your content. Spreading awareness does not equate to breaking the terms and spamming it up. That’s called being annoying, not “spreading awareness”.
  2. It’s false. Sometimes I slip up, like when I’m mobile, and post something that is false, too. Most times, I check Snopes or search for an original source to get the facts straight.
  3. It’s often romanticized. I see this more on the “abuse awareness” posts. Sharing a poem written from a dead boy’s perspective about his abuse and passing it around like a meme as if it’s this important thing to share is about the same as Edward Cullen craving Bella’s blood and not being able to be around her, thus causing her emotional distress.
  4. It isn’t awareness. I don’t care HOW real it is, and I’ll say it again: It’s not awareness. “Awareness” is not sharing a poem, video and/or video that brings out feelings in people as part of a mass thing. Honestly, very few mass-made awareness-like content adequately demonstrates awareness. To name a few, the music video Concrete Angel by Martina McBride, and the songs Warrior, For the Love of a Daughter and Shouldn’t Come Back by Demi Lovato.
  5. They’re really freaking triggering sometimes. While I talk about it openly sometimes, I don’t always openly talk about and think about child abuse and neglect (contrary to what people in the lists I exclude from seeing my posts think, of course). Ever heard of trigger warnings? They’re considerate, and they prevent people like me with PTSD, who feel more vulnerable sometimes, and whose emotions and memories and everything might be triggered by your photo of a frail child with bruises all over their skin.

Can someone make a better social network already? I’ll even help.

No, seriously. >.>

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Comments on this post

I have several FB friends who “raise awareness” by sharing posts almost 24/7. It has gotten annoying to the point where I had to mute his feed. Of course, if I ever get bored, I will visit his profile. But that’s done on my own volition, y’see. Most people on my friends list are pretty good about moderating their contents. Some, not so much. Since my list is pretty short nowadays, there was no need for me to defriend anyone. I let my mood dictate what I consume.

Though FB is starting to annoy me with those “Suggested Pages” posts which successfully bypassed AdBlocker Plus. They’re sporadic for now, but who knows what’ll happen in the upcoming months.

What I hate most about the “awareness” posts is the idea that the person is actually doing something by re-posting a picture. I remember when there was a game of changing your profile picture to your favorite Disney character (or something) in order to raise awareness about child abuse. And a game where women were posting fake pregnancy cravings (the food craving depended on your birthday) to raise awareness about breast cancer.

I don’t follow bloggers’ Facebook pages because they generally just share links to their new posts – no original content.

I agree with you on some of those triggering posts! I have seen some images and awful awareness photos that really upset and/or make me feel uncomfortable. You have a good point when it comes to sharing…get a tumblr account. I do think, though, that almost every social media platform is starting to blend in with its neighboring platforms. They are all starting to have the same features. It begs the question of which ones are even worth it to have!

There are people who argue that some awareness posts should make a person feel “uncomfortable” or “upset” and whatnot, too, though. 😐 I don’t think it’s the case without trigger warnings, because some things are beyond the normal limits.

.-. This is why we need something new. Facebook is so old.

Eh…one might argue that Facebook is a social media and thus social sharing platform, so sharing photos on Facebook isn’t all that different than sharing them on Tumblr. In any case, I DO agree with you – I hate seeing share after share after share. I try to limit my Facebook usage to interaction with family and friends, while Twitter is for more internet/blog stuff.

And aren’t lists great?! I also love the restricted feature, through which those people only see what you share publically. Anything friends-only isn’t seen by them. 😉