Meghan Glynn
We’ve all seen it; heck some of you reading this are probably even guilty of doing it: plastering your life all over your Facebook wall. We’re not talking pictures and “notes,” it’s the excessive check-ins to every store you go in to; your house; your friend’s house; your boyfriend or girlfriend’s house; add that to the statuses filled with, “going to the bathroom, then eating, taking a nap, then seeing my boy/girl/besties later…hit me up!” Tired just from reading that? Does any of it sound annoyingly familiar? Then you, or some people you know, are what I affectionately call “over-sharers.”
If you think that I’m joking, here are a few anonymous examples from my newsfeed right now: “Making lunch ….taking the dog for a walk…errands… then starting to make dinner …sausage and peppers Yummm :)” or how about, “I Feel un-appreciated…tired….sick…annoyed …sad….all together I Feel like complete s–t! I need something to make me smile!” Then there’s my personal favorite, “Sleep ….work 9-2/3-11 Mondays you suck! You will ALWAYS be the brightest star in my sky ♥ Matt ♥,” please gag me. And, honestly, who cares?
This proliferation of information fills up Facebook newsfeeds (and Twitter timelines for that matter) every second of every single day. Do these chronic “over-sharers” ever stop to wonder, “Who really cares how many times I breathe a day, let alone how many times my significant other and I break up per week?” Because if they don’t, they should probably start.
Truth be told, I do find some humor in the over saturation. It may sound horrible, but sometimes it’s funny to laugh at other people’s ridiculous stupidity and/or misfortunes. Take for example my own Aunt. Today she broadcast all over Facebook that while visiting an elderly relative at a nursing home, she realized that a 90-year old woman was wearing the same shirt as she was wearing. Time to start shopping at a new store? I think so. Don’t judge, you know you’ve scanned and laughed at others too.
So then when does posting things for all your friends, family, and sometimes almost complete strangers, to see, become too much? Is this an addiction for people? You may think that statement is a complete joke, but obviously, for some, it’s not.
Kristina Fristch, a junior art therapy major at Post, has actually had her friends put her through an intervention of sorts. “I used to post everything, and then I had my friends confront me about it and I was like, ‘Alrite, I’ll chill out about it’.” Interventions. That’s when you know things are getting bad.
If this epidemic has gotten to that point of no return, where people see the cliff and just push the gas to the floor, then why do they keep going? “People do it just to feel important about themselves,” says Crystal Lopez, a senior education major at Post. She went on to add, “Some people don’t know how to be social and express themselves in that way, so they do it through Facebook.”
For those who do use Facebook newsfeeds as a “creative outlet,” more power to you, I’ll just be sure to click the “unsubscribe” button at the top of my homepage. Everyone else, proceed with caution, and don’t be afraid to tell someone you love when they’re loving their Facebook just a little too much.
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