Visibility

I have a love/hate relationship with Facebook.  I like to see the big events and even the small events that are going on in the lives of friends and family that I do not necessarily talk to every day.  I enjoy the shared pictures and humorous posts mixed in.  And then there's the other side, where hurtful comments, misinformation, or all-around ignorant memes are spread just as rapidly.  Politics and current events flood your feed as people react in real-time to our ever-changing world.  Amazing how many of your friends/family members are secretly lawyers when a controversial court decision comes out, or animal psychologists when a gorilla is in a cage with a child, etc.  I want to see what people are thinking, but there is a point where I hit my limit and log off for the next while.  

When something big happens, there's a hashtag, a commonly shared status, or even a special filter for your profile picture.  I have mixed feelings about these.  

At least I have a quick reason for the profile picture filters.  I have not taken advantage of these because there's that awkward question of when is it appropriate to take it off.  Either that or I would simply forget to take it off and still be rainbow or France striped three years later.  But for the others, when do I need to say something and when do I need to let it be?  People who know me will know that I'm an advocate for LGBTQ rights, feminism, and all-around equality, so do I need to put something out there specifically each time something wonderful or terrible happens?  

Sometimes, I'll proudly join the chorus, putting my own words in.  Sometimes, I feel like what I want to say has been said and said well by another person, in which case I'm content to share the post or like it.  Sometimes, I don't feel that I have anything of value to add to the conversation, due to a flooding of responses, partially encroaching on that hipster mentality component--I refuse to comment on something just because everyone else is.  

And yet, if I don't say something, am I then complicit in it?  This goes back to the idea that the only thing needed for evil to succeed is for good to do nothing.  But where I get hung up is this is actually just a response on Facebook and not a vote or a protest.  We could argue that it's a sort of loose protest, but the sample that I see will always be skewed since the population of my particular friends is not a true random selection.  

Does my response on Facebook or lack of response on Facebook actually do anything about the problem?  

Sometimes, yes.  Hearing a perspective from someone you trust can help change your own, leading others to hopefully see the problems we face in our society with better clarity.  This can help mitigate some of of the ignorance surrounding the situation and thereby work toward fixing it one person at a time.  

Other times, definitely no.  I have seen people talk a big game on Facebook, but what are you actually doing to solve the problem?  Liking a status has saved no one.  Sharing a meme has not stopped all of the killings in the world.  There is a point where we need to remember that talking about it is not the same as doing something about it.  Yes, we need to be vocal about what we believe, but the loudest statements don't usually require words.  How are we acting on these things we post?  

Or is it just a show?  Are we just putting on a visage of righteousness for our Facebook friends?  I don't want to be this person, someone that talks about it and then doesn't do anything about it.  Yes, we should be speaking from our outrage if we feel it.  Additionally, persons need to grieve in what way works best for them.  But we also need to offer ideas and organize on them.  

If the situation is important enough to you that you are angry that someone isn't drawing attention to it on their personal Facebook, maybe you should be doing something more about it.  If you have pressed "Post" and still feel upset, maybe it's time to write your congressman and representatives.  Get on city council, start a petition, create an event to raise awareness, something.  We need to move past words and address the problems.