Personal Issues And Social Media

Hello there Lovely Internet People! I hope everyone out there is having a pleasant day, enjoying this wonderful world we all have to live in while you still have the chance.  I have been keeping busy converting files and learning software in an attempt to get started on my new project, and it is going far slower than I would have hoped, but I am getting there.  I think.

There has been a lot of buzz lately in my Social Media feeds about what people should, or should not, be sharing on Social Media.  There was a woman who posted a live feed of her natural home birth on YouTube, and she got a lot of flack for that.  Then there are all the stories about people using Social Media to shame their children for bad behavior, and the responses to that get pretty heated on both sides.  Today I saw a story about a woman who is fighting breast cancer and "Tweeting" the experience to her followers, and there are at least a couple of high-profile assholes who decided that she shouldn't do that, and even went on to suggest that she should just "die quietly and quickly".

Now, as a person who shares entirely too much of her own personal struggles with the internet, I suppose it should not come as any surprise what side of the fence I am on with this subject.  But, it might.  I don't share my stories and my struggles because I want sympathy or attention, I share them because I know I am NOT alone.  There are other people out there who struggle with the same issues, or even completely different ones, who need to know they are NOT alone.   As far as I am concerned any personal detail of your life that you are personally comfortable with sharing should be shared.  If some one doesn't want to read about it, they sure don't have to, but it is there for those who do.

Please note that I was very specific in what I just said.  I chose the words very careful, as I usually do.  The key point here being "personal".  There should not be an arbitrary limit put upon what people can or cannot share of their OWN experiences, ever.  That being said, publicly shaming a child on Social Media is fucking BULLSHIT and wrong.  I am not suggesting that it should be made illegal, I am just suggesting that it is a fucked up way to raise a kid.  Yes, children should be held accountable for their actions, in person.  They should be taught to value themselves and others.  Publicly humiliating them is not going to solve anything!  Every time I see one of those pictures all I can think of is, where is the picture shaming the parent for raising that kid?  If the parent posted a picture of their self, with a sign saying, "My kid misbehaved and I am dealing with it like a responsible parent" instead of posting the kid's picture, That would be awesome!  

I guess I have never understood the need to humiliate or embarrass children, especially in public.  Maybe because I received so much of that from my peers and the authority figures in my life growing up, I developed an extreme sensitivity to it, I don't know.  I just know I fucking hate that shit.  People who take a picture of their three year old doing something absolutely normal for a child to do, and then talk about how they will be able to use that photo against their child when they start dating.  I don't understand that line of thinking, at all.

So if you want to Tweet about that boil on your ass? Fucking go for it.  You want to Instagram your dinner menu, or your latest bowel movement?  Just do it.  Think you want to Live Stream your nervous breakdown?  Why the hell not?!  Its your life, you decide what you want to share, and I can decide whether or not I want to pay attention.  Seems pretty fucking simple too me.  

I am seriously tired of other people trying to limit my choices of how to spend my time just because they don't want to spend their time in the same way.  If you don't want to watch the video or read the tweet, you have that option, but quit fucking assuming that just because you don't want to see it that no one else does!  That is stupid.  And, on the off chance that you have a job that requires you to be an attention seeking whore, perhaps you should try to turn on just one brain cell before you go putting other people down because they are "just looking for attention".  Why in the hell is that okay for you but not for anyone else?  Everybody NEEDS some damn attention to survive, quit acting like that is a bad thing!

Until Next Time ...