After less than a year belonging to Facebook, I’m beginning to regret it.
I was one of the last of my circle to get in the game. I pointedly resisted for a long time, but finally I caved. There was just too much going on there that I didn’t want to miss out on. Pictures were posted. Events were hyped. Old high school chums were lurking. How could I hold out any longer?
Soon I became more attached than I ever imagined I could be. Mostly I just read the posts of others. I never posted a lot myself. I just didn’t see the point in broadcasting the meaningless details of my life. I’ll admit that sometimes I was amused by the meaningless details others would post, but mostly I skimmed right past them. Still, I couldn’t seem to go to bed at night without checking out the day’s musings.
Then the games began: farms, roller coasters, zoos, organized crime and vampires. Don’t these people have things to do? Or is this just the newest alternative to zonking out in front of the television?
But as annoying as the games, gifts, hearts and wishes can be, even worse is the advertising of the things I don’t want to know. If you join the Neo‑Nazis for the Torture of Kittens group, I will be forced to reconsider my opinion of you. I’m not opposed to your freedom to do so, but of you causing me to doubt my ability as a judge of character. There are some things I don’t want to know about my friends and acquaintances. There is much to be said for a modicum of personal reserve.
I try to remain circumspect when I post things myself, but I’m sure I sometimes fail. My circles and networks reach far and wide, containing people of all types, backgrounds and political persuasions. I’ve probably made a few of them shake their heads and wonder if they haven’t misjudged me completely. And I’m sorry about that. I prefer that people draw their own conclusions about me based on our real‑world interactions and not on the silly fact that I find a poodle wearing a tinfoil hat funny.
So the next time you think about becoming a fan of the Spanish Inquisition, think twice. Is that something you want everyone to know? Unless your name is Torquemada, perhaps you should keep that little gem to yourself.