NO!!!!!! Don't do it! That was just me trying to get your attention so I can rail against people who would ask such a thing and even people who would do it.
This has been irritating me for awhile now and so I thought I would make myself feel better by taking a few paragraphs to gripe about some facebook postings that sour me on social media whenever I experience them.
First, there are few things as personal as ones religion. You may like proclaiming your love and loyalty to your God and related religious figures and that is fine for you. I, however, prefer to keep my religion and beliefs a little more private. So when a facebook friend asks me to post something to my page that glorifies God ..."If you love God, don't be afraid to post this on your Facebook page," I am insulted. The inference is that if you won't post this religious thought on your page...you may be an atheist or just a bad person bound for hell. Don't use Facebook to try to influence people into your spirituality. Respect everyone's personal views and issues and don't expect them to subscribe to yours on the merit of being a Facebook friend. It is the same with politics. People who have visited my page have no doubt where I stand politically, but at the same time, I would never ask anyone to subscribe to my political thoughts and I would never share those posts with anyone but those I KNEW shared my beliefs. While my posts will show on many newsfeeds I don't seek your validation, approval or your share.
What is with this post where someone decides to see if you really pay attention to their posts and decides to put you to the test? You have just come home from school or work and your time is your own. But here is a casual facebook friend deciding to require you to read the post all the way through as a test of your fealty and then cut and paste it on to your page.."don"t share--that's too easy"( and demands much less of your time! )Your penalty for not doing so is risking their facebook friendship. I will take that risk every day of the week. I decide what goes on my page and I won't be held hostage by the threat of losing a cyber friendship that requires me to jump through hoops. Take your FB friendship elsewhere if you must. I won't be taking the test.If you want to make sure I read what you write make it something worth reading and not a threat. I have no idea how many FB friends I have at present and if I lost one, I probably would never know.
Along these lines is the test of your patriotism (post this if you love America) which is both insulting and condescending. The inference is that if I don't do as you say, I may be a member of an Isis cell . If you know me, you know I love my country and you also know I don't need to prove it on Facebook. I display the flag there often but I never try to shame you into doing it and I won't. It is particularly galling when you are asked to repost if you support veterans. It's pandering. Do you personally know anyone who doesn't support veterans? If so, why are you Facebook friends with them? We don't have to delcare everything for the benefit of the facebook public. "Post this if you love Goats!" Don't underestimate the number of lemmings who will do just that.
I am an autism activist. I am in support of anything that promotes the eradication of this disease...and in fact any disease. And because of that, there have been instances when I have posted something I was asked to post on my page for an hour or so at the request of a close friend. I don't do this often and I take quite a few things into account before I decide to do it. I don't generally do requests so I hope you understand . It won't mean I don't think your cause is just, it just means I won't try to program your page so please don't program mine.
And heaven help us, stop posting pictures of money and asking Facebook page owners to repost if they want to receive cash in the next 48 hours. Rub a lamp, do an incantation, find a 4 leaf clover but please don't expect people to buy in to your everlasting superstition. It doesn't look good on you.
I'm going to root for my team on my page, you root for yours on your page. You won't change my mind about what I believe with your Facebook post and I don't intend to try to change yours. Our Facebook pages reflect our interests, beliefs and many of the things that make us tick. I enjoy that and I visit the page of friends when I want to do so, not when I am coerced...."repost...don't share"...
Having said all that, I will, on occasion post something on the page of another FB friend. However, I do it infrequently and only if I am certain the person will not take offense. I have an AC/DC loving pal so if I find a decent story about the band (not just tripe) I will post it to his page. If I know you well enough to know what interests you, I will send things I believe you will enjoy and if you know me well enough, you can do the same. If I am not interested I will delete it. Know your audience.
These are all small gripes in the large scheme of things but I think many times we just post things without thought. There really is a person on the other end of the keyboard and we want to enjoy the experience with them and not make it a source of annoyance. Don't use these rote "Post if you like/hate/believe..." posts in place of being engaging,interesting opinionated or humorous. String some thoughts together without a patronizing meme and you'll make the facebook universe a better place in my humble opinion.
