Thursday, July 9, 2015

SOCIAL MEDIA IS BESTIAL BUT HERE TO STAY

Social media in the hands of computer owners, which is just about everyone, has become an unexpected phenomenon. In some ways resembles a dress is an optional beach or nudist camp of the mind. Our humanization has slowly molded or refined the way we act and controls what we say in our society in certain situations. We seem to act by imitation. Seldom does anyone explicitly say you should not do or say this or that in a given situation ranging from the use of language in a sailors locker room to the way “true lady” holds a teacup. We usually imitate others to fit in but on occasion we may deliberately act to the contrary of what is acceptable to call attention to ourselves or an issue at hand. Some people are very clever at doing these things such as TV product advertisers. How many times have you heard a deep, gravelly voice advertising a tough, powerful sounding pick-up truck? The other day I saw a deep voice growl out a tough sounding “You have a right to own a gun” advertisement on Facebook re-posted by someone I know as a wimp. In the case of the truck, the message makes sense because the truck is supposed to be true but in the case of the gun ownership, the advertiser intends the message to be false. On Facebook, we see an admixture of both approaches; a naive approach to personal truth telling interspersed in what the person doing the posting intends to be sincere and frank. On occasion, it is a call for advice, or sympathy or even help. It is usual for some of them to be too candid. Part of the mystery is that one never knows what the intention of the post might be. I know of several young people, especially females, who use vulgar language on the Facebook page that they would never use in personal conversation. I am refereeing to the use of street terms for the human genitalia and expressions of carnal desires. They are not anonymous because the people, who they normally converse with, are the people who are reading their posts with their names on their Facebook page. Much of this comes without warning meaning many posts are chatty and informative, but they drop off the deep end without warning. I disconnect with many of them but hesitate to do so when I have known the person involved as a friend for years before. I find this all very strange. Another type of word usage is for shock effect. The use of the “F” bomb is most common. Some use it as a one-word declaration before the message is given or even hinted. On occasion, that is the only word used in the post. It makes no sense to me. I know the detailed family history of relative strangers. I am not talking about whom when and where, that too but also speculation about whom this or that person caught sleeping with whose neighbor. On occasion, there are references to questions of paternity known the children involved read the posts. For example, the statement, “My worker comes into my kitchen all the time, but he has not been in my panties since December.” All of this is like a window into their uninhibited minds. I liken it to being drunk. There is an old saying, “In drunkenness there is truth”. The old Winston Churchill joke comes to mind. He said to, Lady Aster, “You are ugly”. She replied, “Winston you are drunk.” His response was that yes, he was but he would be sober in the morning. On Facebook, Winston might be tempted to present his true feelings while others feel free to respond. Maybe this all crude and bestial but in the end, truth be told, social media is an honest endeavor. On second thought, what choice do we have? URL: firetreepub.blogspot.com Comments Invited and not moderated

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