Social networking sites — emphasis on Facebook — have changed the way we communicate with our friends and family, and not for the better. Instead of engaging in real conversations with real people and enjoying real moments as they happen, we often get locked in comment wars with people we’ve never actually met and end up recording memorable moments instead of actually experiencing them. (All so we can post it later to our timeline and watch the Like counts go up.)
There’s a lot to like about social media, but there’s also plenty to hate, and unfortunately, most of the latter comes from the people who are supposed to be friends. These are their top behaviors that make us want to disconnect in 2014.
Partisan Posting
I have more than 900 friends on Facebook (and we’re oh-so-close), and while pretty much all of them hate Congress and/or the President, each one believes it’s the other guy’s fault. Yes, people are fed up. There’s a revolution brewing. And by God, they’re gonna change the world…by voting for the same exact people who are currently in office. Not only that, they’re going to tell you about it while sharing post after post from sites like Mother Jones, MSNBC, and Newsmax.
I Know Most Of My Friends Won’t Share…
These are the 21st Century equivalents of chain letters, and they come in a few different forms. There’s the guilt-trip that tries getting you to re-post or Like something. There’s the BS share-this-and-in-the-next-hour-God-will-bless-you. There’s the random article-share where “You won’t believe what happens next.” (Shutty, ViralNova and Upworthy.) Give it up. Post things that are interesting to you, but cut it with the sappy emotional appeals.
Constantly Trying To Prove You Have A Great Life
We sincerely don’t want anyone to be unhappy. (Well, unless you abuse a child; then we want you to be very unhappy.) However, six posts a day about how blessed you are to be doing what you’re doing, to have the man/woman/child in your life that you adore, name-dropping, etc. Stop being such a Like-ho, and start using a little discretion. You can be positive without constantly fishing for compliments or coming across as a one-upper.
Constantly Hating Life
If your last several posts are about how bad life is, how other people are mean or suck or are always out to get you, how your boyfriend/girlfriend/husband/wife/babymama/babydaddy is always trying to screw up your life, then I got news: you’ve got a little drama queen in ya. That’s right. Life may or may not be screwing you, but if you’re constantly complaining about how bad it is, then you’re bringing quite a bit of it on yourself. Check over your last 10 posts. If half or all can be construed as negative, then you probably need to make a few life changes of your own.
So that’s it — everything that makes us want to disconnect (or at least deactivate). What friend behaviors make you want to do the same in 2014? Let us know in the comments section.
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