December thoughts

Am I a voyeur on Facebook?

Whenever I click onto it, it sucks me in and I read 20-30 posts that I have only a little interest in.  Mainly from groups of people that I don't know, or ads that their algorithm has decided for me I'd be interested in.  And there are days when I hear nothing from a real live friend there.  But still I troll.  And whenever anyone comments on my posts, I'm notified and smile.  Even if they hit a "like" under it, I'm reminded I'm not alone.

So there it is.  Sitting in isolation with a screen that tells me someone else is out there doing the same thing.

What kind of life is this?

No wonder 2 of my three sons disdain Facebook completely.  I'm grateful the women in their lives sometimes post something, or I'd never know what's happening.  These men have lives with just sporadic contacts through texts or phone conversations, otherwise I know nothing about their doings.

I know much more about complete strangers who happen to post on FB.  What's wrong with this picture? (who said that anyway?)

I admit to joining a couple of blogging groups, where I'm challenged to post a blog on a specific topic on a specific day.  Here I'm forced to discipline myself and then see how the others do on the same topic.  Some of these memes seem to be dying out, but I persevere.  That's something I'm good at.  But it's an artificial task, which gives me again a sense of community when there is very little to bring these people together otherwise.

Enjoyment!  There is that to be considered.  Looking at jokes with cats/dogs...looking at nature scenes and animals!  Then there are all the wise sayings.  Goodness, FACEBOOK please stop telling me how to live more peacefully and fulfilled!  And then anti-enjoyment.  Just anything with political connotations.  I used to like to keep up with things.  I used to watch the nightly news.  Now I am content that sometimes I hear about local events through a FB group which focuses on my town.

 Have I again put my head in the sand? I think so, to decrease my level of stress.

I am glad there are some real people in my life that I see, some of whom I hug, and some of whom I share meals with.  Yay to friendships.  Nay to artificial friends.  Sorry about that.  I am one who's going to try to use self discipline to avoid the FB habit.  I've done it before, usually less than 24 hours.  What does that tell me about it? About myself?

The thing is, when I don't post or say "like" or any other emoticon reaction, then FB stops posting anything for me to read...just ads.  Well, so be it.

This is my independence day.  I no longer belong to that algorithm!  I belong to myself.

Today's quote (which is good any day!)

ThanksGiving is good but ThanksLiving is better.

MATTHEW HENRY