Oh… some of you may not like this one, but I want to be honest with my opinion regarding social media outlets. Why is it an outlet? Is it an outlet because you are wanting to escape reality? Post something, and see how many people see your escape? Are they going to like the post, are they not? Who didn’t like it? Why? Why didn’t they love it? Wake the hell up, why is our life surrounded by unnecessary platforms which define who we are, and make our face look the way it does? You may look older than you want too. It may because you are stressed so much about how many people like your posts, your words, your tweet. How many people like your post and then dwell on your post, and really search the meaning of what you are going through? I am going to say none. Maybe a few seconds if I am going to go the positive route, the less traveled by. Why do you want other people to see sadness when you have lost someone or something? Live in the moment yourself and share it with the people who matter the most. When was fakebook first created? I’ll spare you looking it up. It was Feb 4, 2004! How many friends do you have? Looks better the more you have. Some people have 1000 friends! Wowza, that person must be amazing!! Learned behavior. Fact: as I am writing this, when I type facebook, it comes up with the red line underneath it meaning a misspelled word. You know what the red line means. Fakebook doesn’t though, weird.
I was having dinner with two friends last night and fakebook was brought up. My computer is autocorrecting me now, jk, facebook is still in the red, so are the initials, just kidding, but I am not kidding around here. One of my friends brought up the fact that her memories are stored on there, which is great. They are saved for her, so she can experience then whenever she wants. Now my other friend asked, “Why are people friends with people they don’t even like?” Great question. My reasoning is we don’t want to make anybody feel left out, it would look bad. She also said, ” I think they are intimidated.” You betcha they are. So when you see posts of people you don’t like and know it’s fake, you automatically are negative, you criticize their post. Who cares if they intimidate you, delete the fake!
But Brooke, you ask, “Are they are going to notice and treat me differently.” My words, my thoughts when I deleted someone. Who really cares because they are making a negative impact and creating negative thoughts in your head. Are they going to treat you differently because you digitally erased them? You bet. Amazing that are brains think this way, we digitally delete them and we are scared of them, yikes. It used to be a written letter. Don’t be fake, be real. If you delete someone, do you think they are really going to find you and ask why? No, you might get a private message because they are avoiding the situation. How you handle it, is up to you. Be kind but stand your ground if they are making your life negative.
A tweet is also short lived. They should name it marathoner. Wow, marathoner is a word, not red underneath. Words impact lives in the long haul!! Please tweet this, no remember it. Make it a memory if it is good, if it has a positive impact on your life.
Fakebook has created division. It has! You can only see certain friend’s posts. You may not see an important post from an important friend and you didn’t put a thumbs up, a heart, a laughing face, or a sad face. How many of you look to see who liked your post? Your escape from reality? Because reality is just depressing? No one likes that. Guess what, I do….it’s real. I am for sure guilty looking at my likes when I post. It’s ok if you don’t like this one blog, I really don’t care if you don’t like it, I just hope you can think and realize what the digital era has become and re-train your thinking habits. Make it a positive habit by not caring what other people think or feel about you.
Also, the Billings newspaper put out a vote for the best nurse award. Yes, I received a nomination and I really value who put kind words to represent me. But, guess what, those were your words. I should be voting for you for being so kind and nice. People who voted for me should vote for themselves because you made me what I am today! The newspaper should NOT be making this a contest. It’s dumb. Yes, everyone on there made an impact on someone, an imprint, it is very uplifting to read the stories. Are they stories or experiences? Were you there? Maybe, maybe not. Did you vote for the best story? Did you click the like button? We can’t see how many likes on this folks! Every person, peer, family member, friend, and most important, the kind souls who are put in a vulnerable position when I care for them should be included in this, “competition.” This voting actually has a negative impact on our consciousness. Please read the previous sentence and really think deeply.
By the way, when you fall asleep at night, it is only you and your thoughts. True.. Do you like yourself?I hope so, that deserves a thumbs up and a retweet to YOURSELF. Start liking you.
P.S. How many times did you actually read FAKEBOOK instead of Facebook? Maybe once, twice? Or just in the title? Reprogram your thinking now.
Brooke's Honest and Truth Blog, RN 
You know I’ve always struggled with Facebook. Social media in general. Twitter, instagram, snap chat and many others. Back in the day I had a MySpace account that I obsessed over. I wanted people to know my mood, hear my thoughts, and send me messages to make me feel popular. I didn’t want a Facebook because I didn’t want to be apart of the evolving trend. Honestly part of me had no idea how to use Facebook and I didn’t want to look stupid trying To figure it out. Which is how I feel about all other new apps and social media.
A close friend through high school moved far away and I chose to upgrade just to keep in contact – even though I had his number and still called him to chit chat. But I wanted to “see” not just “hear” from that day on. Facebook became my obsession. I don’t even remember the basics of MySpace. But like you said people want others to “know” what’s going on. But i feel like it’s the same as watching the news. You only hear and see what someone tells you. Which in most cases is only part of the truth. You can post happy thoughts, funny quotes, beautiful destinations… but deep down you feel like your drowning. Barely enough energy to keep treading water and it’s those likes, hearts, laughs, and comments that keep you a float. But why ? It’s not like they truly know. They aren’t experiencing what magical moment you’re in. Nor are they interpreting the joke the way you did. But I feel like when you post those deep dark thoughts of hopelessness. Sadness, lost, confused , angry, tired, or even crossing the line with thoughts of suicide. Some that read those posts roll their eyes and feel like it’s a cry for attention. Others click on the sad face and say I’m here if you wanna talk – but when you really need someone where are those that offered ? And is it truly comfort confiding your darkest thoughts ?
Anyways back to the point I was just trying to make. It’s amazing what social media can do to you. How powerful it is. How destructive it can be. And For some reason it matters what attention strangers give you and what they feel about you. Whether An old friend from high school or some acquaintance you met in passing. It SHOULD only matter to YOU. but that’s not the way our society has been taught.
I do love and appreciate your posts and how honest you can be.
I once heard someone say “ you need to write for you , not for what others will think of you “
Keep it up ! I love reading 😉
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Allyson! Thinking we are soul sisters!!! You are also taking the road less traveled by. You definitely hit a point about MySpace. Wonder why we got away from it? The title reads MySpace. Was it our space? I truly don’t know if it is still active. Doesn’t matter, we are.
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