sometimes i wonder if facebook is turning me into a not nice person.
occasionally there are times when i experience an extreme emotion after seeing something on facebook: an interaction, a message, a picture posted. if i'm feeling tipsy or a little ballsy, i might say something to clear the air, to call someone out, to tag a friend in an ecstatic memory that arrives out of nowhere.
today, i find that there are many, many things i'd like to say, and not only do i want to send them in a private message, to be received by one person, or maybe two people, depending on if i feel the need to have a witness. today, i want to post that private, secret business out on the boards for all to see, to air out some nonsense that i feel should be called out.
now, i'm not normally a person who thrives on confrontation, so where is this all coming from? we've all heard that facebook is bad for us, makes us feel bad about ourselves because we have "post envy" from all the amazing pictures our friends and families are posting from their perfect lives. but what about the strong, nagging desire to call people on their bullshit, publicly, not just with one witness, but with all witnesses available, forever and ever in cyberspace? is facebook turning little ol' me into a little ol' cyberbully? this is not something that i have ever had the urge to do, in person, on the phone, and definitely not publicly, via the web. until now.
maybe i'm seeking some sort of public catharsis, an acknowledgement that no, i am not the only one who thinks so-and-so is wrong/sneaky/bad/manipulative. i want the truth to be told, literally shouted from the center of the gladiator ring, for all to hear and to see. i want ugly behavior to be rendered unacceptable and punishable, in front of all the people who know me, and who i love.
this is not a matter of being perfect (by default, none of us is), nor a matter of i'm right/you're wrong (although the odds are mostly in my favor). this is a matter of standing up to the bully of manipulation, the extremely selfish, the shameless pursuer of attention, the sweet-talking thief. it's a matter of people who hoard people/things/attention in order to make themselves feel better.
i'm tired of it. i'm drained from it. i'm ready to get on with my life and get over it. and, as a writer, i have all creative license to do that which i truly wish to do: expose the worst aspects in people and praise the best joys.
because that's what we're meant to do as writers- tell the truth.
