I have a big love-hate relationship with social media.
I can see the benefits of it - the ability to get news out quickly, to receive information just as quickly, the chance to stay in touch with friends who you might otherwise never hear from again, a little bit of humour. These are the reasons I think sites such as Facebook and Twitter were created.
But what I hate, on a level that makes my brain smoke, is what far too many people have turned these sites into - in particular the festering, rotting hole that has become Facebook.
Some of it is harmless stuff that falls under the pet peeves category. The people who have to update the world on the minutiae of their existence. Chances are you're friends with one of these people - or more likely dozens of them.
Insert name here: I just went for a walk!!!!
I actually had a "friend" post that. First off, what the hell is the point of a post like that? Was it your first walk? Was it a particularly tough walk? Did you at least see something interesting on the walk? Might you be a rampant narcissist?
If a person is that starved for attention, they don't need Facebook, they need a life. If you are this person, please stop it.
How about the person whose messages are so distorted and hard to read you'd think they came from another planet?
Insert name here: You know what really makes me mad!!!?!! When people .. - look a squirrel - don't pick up there I am going to the movie tonight.
Now yes, I did make that one up, but admit it, you've seen something just like it. What is up with these people? I have seen hieroglyphics that are easier to follow. I'm aware it's not an English test and social media is pretty informal. But for the love of all things good and decent, would it kill you to complete a thought or use grammar? If you are this person, please stop it.
THE ALL CAPS PEOPLE. I have to tread carefully here because I have some family members who I love that are ALL CAPS offenders.
Insert name here: HI!!!! HOW ARE YOU TODAY??? I HOPE YOU HAVE A GOOD DAY!!!
If your keyboard is broken, please accept my apologies. Otherwise, what the heck? It's really kind of unnerving. If you are this person, please stop.
There are lots of others: the person who constantly posts inspirational photos; chronic like button users - nobody can like that many things; people whose life is one big photo shoot - these are the ones who have to pose for every single item that is able to take a picture.
Like I said, these are just pet peeve types of things and are actually kind of funny for the most part.
However, there are some other Facebook habits that are not harmless and the people behind these should be banned from the Internet altogether.
The first is the constant complainer. We all have our things that piss us off, but what separates the 99 per cent of us from the rest is we don't feel the need to express every single one of them on Facebook.
I've written this before and I'll say it again - these people generally contribute nothing positive and they do nothing more than bring down the morale of people who are actual contributors to their community.
To these people, I say: believe it or not, but wherever you live you will have to wait in line at the grocery store, they might not have everything you are looking for, there will be potholes on the streets, there will be things the city does you won't like, you will have to pay taxes and likely pay more than you want to.
There is also another group that is especially bad and they are the ones who create unnecessary panic in the community.
Over the past couple of weeks, postings have been going around Facebook about an attempt to abduct an Estevan child from their yard.
Like everything that comes across on Facebook you really don't know what to believe. I do know this though, the Estevan Police Service has said they've not received any reports about an attempted abduction and would issue a public notice if they did. So colour me skeptical.
If there is some merit to this, I would ask the parents to give us a call. If not, I would tell whomever is behind it to take a serious look in the mirror and maybe reevaluate your life because clearly something is more than slightly wrong with you. That is a horrible thing to do and there should be a law against it. There might actually be one.
What was even more bothersome about one posting was the comment that "these people are ones that have come here from another country and they will get a girl if they want her using any means possible."
This is when my brain starts smoking. There are so many things wrong about that statement, I'm not sure where to start. It's racist, it's xenophobic and it paints anyone who moved to Estevan from another country - the majority of whom are good, honest people and great additions to the community - as someone out to kidnap a child. It displays a level of ignorance that I hoped did not exist in our city, which of course is naïve on my part. And even if the incident that started this talk is true, it does not give anyone the right to post that kind of crap on the Internet. And let's not forget the unnecessary panic something like this creates for parents in our community.
If you are that person, not only should you stop it, you should take your computer, unplug it, pour water on it, place it in the garbage and never touch a computer again. You are not responsible enough to own one.
Sites like Twitter, and to a much, much lesser level, Facebook are nice additions and certainly play a role in our changing world. But that doesn't mean we should forget to act like civilized people just because we are sitting at a keyboard.
