Social Media Allows Us To Be More Genuine, Honest, Congruent

                           I love social media. Social media has forced a shift in humans that I feel is for the better; it has forced people to be one person to all people at all times, and this is awesome! No longer can one successfully juggle various narratives of ourselves and be one person to one set of people and then present quite another face to a different set of people. This duplicitous aspect of humanity is not possible in the world of Facebook. In Facebook, for example, you are thrown in a wild whirlwind of people from all stages, ages, and periods of your life and everyone gets to see you the same way at the same time. This ladies and gentlemen is HUGE, it's absolutely revolutionary if you give it a second's thought. Where else in humanity's history has there been a forum when you can have your exes, your past high school teachers, your nieces and nephews and your elementary school friends all comment on, say, a picture or a link you just posted? The answer is NOWHERE. Because of this miraculous new form of communication we are forced to be more genuine, more one with all, more honest from the start. I love this about Facebook. 

                             If you believe in something, never hide it, never be shamed of it, put it out there for all to see, for all to comment, and openly judge. Puzzlingly, I have often heard folks say to me they purposely hold out being 'political' or 'controversial' on Facebook in fear of offending their 'friends'. That logic makes absolutely no sense whatsoever to me. When I hear this I immediately wonder if they are this way in person as well. Are they only about pleasantries and talking about the weather in person as well? I can't help but to be turned off by people who feel that FB is not for politics. If not on Facebook then where else would you speak out (or shout) about dumb rape comments made by stupid politicians, where else can one state that they support gay marriage to all their family members, or express disbelief at the ridiculous tests kids have to go through in school, or show support for any cause for that matter? This IS the forum to be exactly who you are in your brightest sense, no bars held, let the chips fall where they may. (With some limits of course, but I assume we have all had FB long enough now to know how to behave on it appropriately)

                  Hiding something in the name of 'not offending' comes across as you feeling ashamed of it, as if there were something wrong with having an opinion, or believing in a cause, or showing passion for ideas. Only in being who we are around others can we encourage others to genuinely express their own ideas, passions and true selves and that makes for a much more interesting relationship, a much more genuine interaction.  In addition, I openly welcome people to 'unfriend' me who feel I should be posting less politics and more...who knows what on my page. 

                     In many ways Facebook is a wonderful metaphor for life. The most obvious metaphor here being, accept yourself and others as we are, with our many gifts, our many quirks.  Life becomes infinitely more interesting as a result of this 'allowing'. Trying to manipulate and restrict genuine communication through fear only makes for fake relationships and reduces them to what I call, 'pleasantries relationships'. Pleasantries relationships never venture past 'talkin about the weather' carry very little impact for no one learns anything, no one is impacted, changed, inspired by such hum drum relationships. 

                 We can't change the world, make an ounce of impact, or even begin to do the work we were placed here to do if we don't show others who we truly are from the very beginning.