The Wild West of Facebook Community Pages

This article couldn?t be more timely??Is Social Media Damaging Interpersonal Communication?

As one of the admins of a community Facebook Group, I?wholeheartedly?say sorta. Social Media is like alcohol, it amplifies their personality and in some cases, destroys common sense ? the nice people tend to be nicer, and the mean people are complete tools. Some will use social media to further causes they believe in, some for business, some solely for communication, and others use it as entertainment.

And therein lies the problem, those that use it purely for entertainment ? those business folks, communicators, and fund-raisers are targets/opportunities. Even within a small community page like the one I admin, you can see a perfect cross-section of these segments. Here?s a few of them??Bear in mind, everything I?ve written here refers to a community page, not the Tosh.0 fan club Facebook page.

• The Internet is My Clothesline Where I Hang Dirty Laundry?- problem with my neighbor? Walk over and have a discussion with them? Pick up the phone maybe? Eff that, I?m posting this on the Internet.
• Shit-Stirrers ? there isn?t an opinion out there they can?t argue against.
• Cat and Dog ? whenever the two shall meet, the two shall fight, so sayeth them for some reason.
• Sir Spam-A-Lot ? the question, ?Have I posted about my business too much?? has never crossed their mind.
• Crying Wolf ? whenever someone has an opinion that differs from mine, they are a bully.
• Internet Thug ? what can?t be solved by threatening bodily harm from the keyboard?
• Call Me Never ? I need some information. I could call the police, township? you know, someone who would definitely know this answer. But nah, I?m posting this on the Internet.

In short, people need to understand that yes, you can have the ability to post whatever you want ? but understand that the people that read your message also have the ability to post whatever they want. Freedom of speech is a two-way street. People need to have both thick skin and enough of a sense of decorum to not post?inane?or inflammatory topics that add nothing. That said, if it?s a joke ? make sure it?s clearly a joke, it?s always tough to decipher intent through the written word.

The point of me writing this post wasn?t to make anyone feel badly about a post that has been made or to discourage anyone from posting anything at all. The problem is that when a Facebook community page turns into the Springer show, there?s nothing valuable at that point ? it?s just noise and a waste of time.

Again ? bear in mind, everything I?ve written here refers to a community page, not the Tosh.0 fan club Facebook page.

A while back, this quote from an NPR interview with Frank Langella really struck me,

?I know I?m closer to the end than the beginning, so I?m trying to be far more conscious of any time wasted, which I still waste, as everybody does. But because it?s inevitable and because there?s nothing I can do about it, and I was taught at a fairly young age ? not young enough, I wish I had learned earlier ? that to waste any time on the inevitable or the thing you cannot control or fix is absolute nonsense.?

Funny/Interesting Links?

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 11th, 2013 at 8:31 am and is filed under facebook, Social Media, thoughts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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