About Face

People are addicted to Facebook. How many of us have a friend or friends who like and or comment on a post before it  even appears in YOUR own news feed?  I know people so attached to FB they sleep with their cell phone under their pillow so that as soon as a new post or picture comes in they can see immediately.  When I ask why they do this they  say it’s because they don’t want to miss out  on anything. Are you really that nosey. Facebook is a great way of connecting with people but it is also a slippery slope.  Family and  real friends have stopped visiting each other and spending time together choosing instead to peruse the pages of their “friends”.  NO ONE has 3,000 friends.  A lot of us need to take a moment and have a Facebook reality check.
Before you all get your pages in a bunch, I’m  not a Facebook hater. I use Facebook daily. I just don’t let it use me and I don’t allow it  to control and take over my life.  Our society is a Ying and Yang society. Where there is good there is also bad.  Many of us don’t see the real dangers Facebook can pose.

In the last week I have seen friends put themselves in danger with a seemingly harmless post.  I admit that I am a little more sensitive to some of these issues because I have had a stalker, but stop making it easy for a stalker, rapist or thief to victimize you.  Post by women who are at home alone broadcasting the fact they are home alone. Nobody needs to know that.  Pictures showing people’s address, or their car tags. Most people have their location turned on so every time they post it says I’m here, USA. Now that I know you are located in someplace, USA.  I have your name a quick search will give me directions to your location in less than 30 seconds.  I’ve seen people post things like I am home alone, sick and heavily medicated.  Why not just post I am easy pickings come and get me I live at this address.  People who feel the need to check in at every stop they make while they are out of the house. Please stop this. Again  why not call up the local thieves council and say hey we will be gone between the hours of x and z on this date feel free to rob my house if you get a chance. I know someone who  posted they were leaving town. They checked in at the airport going and coming.  There better half was also kind enough to post their new work schedule. Guess who was a victim of theft when they returned home? To complete the circle they posted on Facebook all the details so that if the thieves made any mistakes they could refine it the next time they took advantage of someone’s liberal postings.   I could go on an on with examples. The main thing is be aware of what you are posting.  Don’t assume because your page is private that only a select few can see what is going on in your life.  My page is private. I have friends whose pages are not. So every time I post something if my friends like it, that post or picture goes out to the entire world. Criminals no longer need to case houses or follow people in order to stalk them or discern a good time to break in. All they need to do is log in and wait. Sooner or later someone will give them an opening. While we are on this touchy subject please be careful how you are sharing pictures of the smallest people in our lives. Our children are vulnerable and if we share them with the entire world we may be putting them at danger. There is enough information on the average person’s page to fool the smartest child and convince them mommy or daddy sent some nut to pick them up. Think about it from a child’s perspective. You know my name, my parents names, where we live, you have pictures of me and my family, and you know that my mom is at eating with my Grandma at name family’s favorite restaurant. I’m sure they have probably checked in from there once or twice.  If you were that child why wouldn’t you go with the person that tells you your mom sent me to pick you up because she had an emergency. It only takes one misstep, one second for our children to be gone without a trace.

There are departments in companies now that employ people to do one thing; read their employees Facebook pages. You have a moral clause that funny picture at your friend’s bridal shower may cost you your career. Think about the teacher who was fired for posting a picture of her drinking. It was not even during the school year and she was on vacation. The teacher wasn’t even  in the country much less on school grounds but still she was TERMINATED. Why because she was a high-school teacher  she was young and the superintendent thought she was promoting drinking to her students.  Every one hopes when they have children the day will never come when a custody battle ensues. When it comes to court and children your Facebook posts and pictures can be your best friend and your worst enemy.  Think before you post. It really matters more than you think.

Since we are talking about my Facebook pet peeves lets talk about a couple more. I am so sick of the posts that say I am hungry. Annnnnd you are posting this because???? Am I supposed to facebook/fedex you a lunch plate? I have the best spouse in the entire world followed by a post 10 minutes later from the same person saying something like if I matter to you let it show in your actions. I am so lonely, I am miserable. But aren’t you the one who just posted 10 minutes ago that your marriage is perfect? I do not need to know everything you are doing in the course of your day. I have started defriending people who post play by play of their day. Really? I don’t want play by play of my own life let alone yours. STOP POSTING your every thought and move. I woke up. Well, I can assume you are awake since you just posted something on your page. I am going to bed. Well If I see that your notifications have stopped  and it’s after midnight I may be swift enough to guess that you are sleeping.  I have to go to the bathroom. Um why do I need to know this? Why does anyone need to know this? And if you  have to go to the bathroom why are you posting on Facebook instead of going to handle your business. This is my favorite my friend, yes I have some special characters in my life.  That’s another blog entirely. Anyway, said friend who will remain nameless just purchased a brand new Samsung Galaxy phone not the 4 the Samsung Note. The cell phone that comes with the fancy pen that allows you to write notes etc. My dear friend could not part with her Facebook page long enough to  take a bath. You  guessed it she took her beloved phone into the bath just in case she got a notification message. She got one. Slippery bubbled hands reached for the phone to see the latest Facebook “news” she dropped her brand new $500.00 phone in the warm bath and since she didn’t have insurance had to replace it 10 days after purchasing it. Facebook is not that serious people.

There are a lot of great things about Facebook also.  I have a large family and we are spread all over the country. Sometimes due to jobs and life events there are oceans between us. Facebook is great for keeping in touch and seeing pictures of loved ones. But I still manage to keep in touch by the old fashioned methods too. I have family members I didn’t realize I had so much in common with but because of bookface as my mother-in-law used to call it 🙂 I found out we have a lot more in common then blood lines.  Spreading information quickly to a large diverse group of people all  over  the world is a plus too. Those are some of the good  things about Facebook.  We all need to be responsible and think about what we are posting and sending out into the World before we hit send. Once you hit that post button there is no going back. Now if you all will excuse me I have to go log into Facebook. I haven’t been logged in for 2 hrs and I’m sure I’ve missed a lot.  See ya tomorrow same bat channel, good lord willing and the creek don’t rise.

Happy posting, peace, love and Style.

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