On the surface this topic this may not seem either encouraging or showing gratefulness. However, stay with me and I hope to put a positive point on a very touchy subject - yes I am taking about Facebook.
In the beginning, Facebook was a means for college kids to stay connected. Then it expanded to the rest of the universe. At first everyone was thrilled. They could communicate to a larger group of friends without the downsides of e-mail (spam, long drawn out messages). You could also connect with friends that you always wondered "what ever happened to so and so?" It kept families in touch to be able to see those great pictures of the kids and grandkids. It was all so nice.
Then somewhere along the way some forwards of posts started showing up in a person's feed. They were cute videos of animals, thoughtful sayings to encourage your day. Then the tenor of the forwards began changing. Political statements, forwards of news articles promoting a specific viewpoint began interrupting the feeds. It came to a frenzy during the election cycle and many people gave up on Facebook.
Suddenly, friends were becoming enemies when they posted something you didn't agree with. A recent post came across as hurtful. I didn't know where it came from. Then I realized that their Facebook feed was not my feed. Whatever they were seeing had prompted a reaction that went out to all of their friends. I'm sure the post was not intended to hurt, just to inform. Their feed was probably cluttered with so many viewpoints that they were tired of just sitting back and saying nothing. So they posted a response to a personal experience. As expected, some people were supportive, some were dismayed.
There are reasons the wisdom of the past said "never bring up religion or politics" in a discussion. It always brings strong reactions. No two people believe the exact same thing. So is Facebook the forum for sharing statements that divide? I have yet to see anyone be persuaded by another person's post, no matter how thoughtful or clever. Every discussion I have read eventually leads to bashing and name calling.
So what can we do to bring Facebook back to something we enjoy? I don't know if we can reign it in or we need to start over with a new format. Remember MySpace? It was fun until the burden of having to be so creative brought it down. Facebook took over because it was simple. Can we regain simplicity and remember what Facebook was intended for? Or have we gone too far and need to construct a new platform. Many younger people are ditching Facebook. I don't know what will happen but in the meantime, I will try to ignore the strong statements that are divisive and not contribute to that part of Facebook.
Remember the telephone call? It was once something we looked forward to receiving. Now we dread it when it rings because it is usually a solicitation for one thing or another. Or perhaps when we used to look forward to getting mail. It meant a letter from someone we cared about. Now it is offers for better credit card rates or bills. Let's not let Facebook turn into something we dread. Let's make Facebook great again.
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