okay, the following little mini rant may seem incredibly misanthropic… on the other hand, it might achieve universal resonance. We’ll see.
Here’s the thing, when I’m on facebook or in the Blogosphere, every once in a while I will see a post, and there will be a series of comments underneath that post. If it’s a topic of interest, I will post a comment as well. It’s an interesting way to have a little light conversation, often with a group of total strangers. And of course, with social media, you just never know who you might be chatting with.
To keep up with the conversation, I of course click the little “get notifications of new comments” box in blogs. In facebook, those notifications of new comments are automatic. (And sometimes I am the first to inadvertently comment on a soon to be popular facebook post, and my inbox will fill up with 20 notifications. Well, that’s my own fault.)
Here is my complaint: sometimes there will be a lengthy discussion following a blog or facebook post, and in the middle of this discussion, someone will post a response to the initial post without reading any of the preceding comments already posted.
I have to tell you, this strikes me as being incredibly rude. It reminds me of that kid next to me in class who was eager to suck up to the teacher and had no recognition of my existence, much less my input.
I suppose it’s one thing if there is just one or two responses to a post, and there’s no real thread or in-depth discussion. But one must remember, if there are 20 or 30 comments on a post, whatever you write in that comment box may land in the inboxes of 30 strangers. And if you have not followed the discussion up to that point, you risk ignoring, and therefore being rude, to all them.
What I am learning about social media is that it is an extremely delicate social situation. For example, I know very few people who get very upset about unsolicited junk mail in their physical mailboxes, but those same people will have major emotional reactions to unsolicited e-mails. Somehow the electronic intrusions seems much more invasive and personal. And since we cannot include subtle inflections of voice, one must be very careful when making sardonic comments, as they can easily be misinterpreted in the worst possible ways.
Social media is a powerful medium but that doesn’t necessarily mean it can be powerful in a good way. It can magnify your faux pas’s and obnoxiousness, and it can do so globally, in a very big hurry too.
Now as far as this blog is concerned, this is my blog, I pay for it, no one is required to come here and read it, so I feel like I can say whatever I want. But when I’m commenting on someone else’s facebook posts or someone else’s blog, Emily Post squared applies.
© Justin Locke
