With a yawn, I stretched and awoke from my nap on the tennis bus. I grabbed my phone and scrolled through my Facebook newsfeed, just checking to make sure I didn’t miss too much during my 40-minute nap, like maybe a promposal or someone changing their profile picture. I admit it; I have FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out).
As I scrolled through, though, there were what seemed to be a million statuses about Boston, phrases along the lines of “Stay strong, Boston.” Thinking nothing of them, I kept scrolling until someone posted a video entitled, “Boston Marathon Bombings – Clear footage”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xiXroQp8t4
My jaw instantly dropped when I watched videos and continued to read about the hideous event that occurred. Once I understood what had happened, I understood why Facebook had gone into a frenzy. As I refreshed my news feed, I saw that The Hewitt Times had posted a status about it.
My next thought was, “Should I make a status about it?”
With the access we have to social networking, news spread quickly, and condolences spread even quicker. I wanted to help or do something, but not only would a silly old status not do much of anything, I would be left unconsciously refreshing as the number of likes rose, and then it just becomes a competition of who can write the most heartfelt message and get the most likes on their status.
Using social networking to distribute information amongst others is one thing, but it should not be used in a way that disregards the monstrousness of these kinds of events. I can’t help but think that the Facebook friends of mine were fishing for likes. One can be disgusted by the heartlessness of some people and sympathize with those affected without broadcasting it for all your 1,000+ “friends” to see.