How expressive can we be on the social media, especially on Facebook? Our Facebook accounts do not only include our close friends and family anymore, but also friends of friends, acquaintances, workplace colleagues, former colleagues, and sometimes, even people we never met in the real world. With such a large and diverse audience, our Facebook posts experience criticisms and scrutinies that often lead to debates and resentments.
I use Facebook much less than I used to. I rarely put up a status, share a song, poem or anything else. Why? I want to avoid being judged. Yes, people judge you. They reach conclusions about the state of your mind, your marriage, etc. from your posts even though these may not have anything to do with my current state of mind. For instance, a melodious but heart-rending song can make some people think that you are upset about something or someone. In reality, you perhaps shared the song simply because you liked it.
At one time, I felt the wrath of some Facebook friends for sharing a couple of photos of the monkey, Able, whose preserved body is at Smithsonian Air & Space Museum. Able is one of the two monkeys who were sent to the space in 1959 and returned alive. The preserved body of Able in her flight “couch” angered some of my friends, who thought that it was unethical to treat animals like that. One lectured me on how shocking these photos can be to young children and therefore should not be shared on Facebook. I got into a debate with those Facebook friends over what’s ethical and what's not. I told them that I was only sharing photos of an exhibit at a national museum… Anyway, after that day, I often put up a small note under my possibly “controversial" Facebook posts. The note says that the views are completely personal and that I am sharing or posting this particular post because I personally “like” it.
Gosh! Who knew that Facebook would one day cause you more pain than pleasure? I did not see that coming. But I understand that adding hundreds of people to one's friends list is sure to put such strain on people’s relationships with each other.
So, I am thinking of grouping of Facebook friends into acquaintances, close friends, co-workers, etc. and choose my audiences before posting something. I hope this might help solve the problem a bit. I am being lazy though. :(
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