Do you ever see these posts? I hate it when Facebook changes. Or when it acts up. Or when it switches to top stories instead of most recent. Or when it’s not easy for me to use. On and on it goes, right?
What follows is an unashamed rant about how selfishly some people approach Facebook, and technology in general.
Questions for those who complain about technology:
1. Do you realize Facebook is a privilege, not a right?
2. Do you realize it’s a FREE way to communicate with hundreds of friends and acquaintances in one place that is relatively neat and organized?
3. Do you realize that because it’s FREE that means you have zero stake in it and they can do whatever they want to it?
4. Do you realize that people 25 years ago would have loved to have a piece of technology like Facebook? Or, better yet, that thing called the internet?
5. Do you realize that when you complain about technology I wish you’d have some perspective? Remember, in my generation, I sprinted to the newspaper box at 1:30 every day all summer long to read the summary of the Yankees game from the night before – IF they didn’t play on the west coast?
6. Do you realize that Facebook allows you to share photos in seconds when people used to have to wait days and days for rolls of film to be developed at the drug store or sent back by mail?
7. Do you realize that half the self-absorbed garbage people put on Facebook adds nothing to anyone else’s life and says very little if anything about their own?
Think. How do you engage in social media? How do you use technology? Do your complaints about it come from a healthy perspective?
Act. How about trying to use technology to contribute to others’ lives instead of all the negativity, blah, or self-centeredness? How about not complaining so much and simply being grateful for what you get to enjoy?