Personally, I don’t like to share a lot on Facebook, because most of what seems to go around the most is just beyond ridiculous. Don’t get me wrong; there is a LOT of GOOD stuff that goes around and deserves to be shared more than anything. (LEGITIMATE missing children reports, ACCURATE health information, etc.) However, as with anything else online, people decide to use this “share” feature and dupe people into sharing the most ridiculous nonsense.
I don’t blame the ones who start it; I blame the ones who choose to carry it on. Seriously…most of us didn’t just get Facebook last week. Some of this stuff is PLAIN AS DAY that it’s not legitimate and yet folks share it anyway. The excuse is often “Well, it can’t hurt” or “Just in case.” Yeah…you go with that.
Someone may be thinking, “Well if you don’t like it, then don’t look at it.” That actually doesn’t fit here, because I didn’t specifically say that I “didn’t like it,” so try something else. Besides, for me to just “not look at it” doesn’t make it any less ridiculous.
But enough rambling. Here are 10 of what I feel are the most RIDICULOUS things to be “shared”:
1. Anything meant to shame men, whether it’s how to treat a woman or everything a man does wrong. Most of the time, these come from women. Now a lot of times they may be right, but the problem is that most of the women I see who post this stuff simply do not follow it. Big spills on how a man is supposed to treat a woman, yet the first time you see a man who looks good and/or has money, that quote and those phrases are out the window. Ladies, all I’m saying here is…practice what you’re trying to preach. All the “likes” in the world won’t make that next man you meet act the way you feel he’s supposed to.
2. Pictures of stacks of money and then being told to “share it in the next 60 seconds and money will come to you.” Remember when we were kids and you had that friend who would always say “If you do” whatever, “I’ll give you a dollar”? Then when you did it, he/she wouldn’t give you anything? To me, this is the adult version of it. And way more pathetic. So sharing a picture of money means I’m going to get some? Where’s the logic in that? You’ve received pictures of TONS of things and those things haven’t magically made their way to you, so why would that happen with money?
3. Speaking of money, pictures of fake lottery tickets or someone holding one, usually out of clear view. This usually happens following the winning of a HUGE lottery jackpot. (Not that $20 million isn’t still HUGE to me, but hey). It’s usually that the person doing it will “promise” to share some of the money with 10 random people if they share the pic. Right. Usually, the ticket is photoshopped in some way to get all the winning numbers there. I’ve seen ones where the date was wrong. Some had the state the ticket was bought in and of course, it doesn’t match the state(s) the winners bought the tickets in. The latest one I saw was a guy holding a ticket up to a bathroom mirror (of course, I couldn’t see ANYTHING on the ticket because he had it that far back). The funny thing about that one is that the same guy came out and admitted he didn’t win, and it was right on his page. Yet people were still blindly liking and sharing. Of course, we’re all just “haters” to say he didn’t really win, but seriously…when was the last time you’ve heard of people who won lotteries to actually give random people a portion of the winnings just for liking and sharing? Take your time…
4. Pictures of babies/kids in the hospital hooked up to machines or with some kind of growth on their bodies somewhere. I would have absolutely no problem if these were real, but most of them are not. They don’t even look real. Hell, a google search says that most of them aren’t real. They’re staged. (I only say “most” because I haven’t personally checked on every one, but let’s use our heads here). Many are simply photoshopped (and poorly done at that). To make matters worse, the only real “request” most of the time is to just share the picture. That’s supposed to represent a “prayer.” You’ve seen them before…the ones that say “1 LIKE = 1 PRAY” or “LIKE IF YOU CARE, IGNORE IF YOU DON’T.” Give me a break. It’s a shame that people are so starved for attention that they have to bring little kids into it, but again…it’s the folks sharing who should have the common sense to know better. Most of the time there are discrepancies IN the picture itself and you don’t even have to go to google for that. There was one where a man supposedly ran into a burning building to save kids and his face was burned all the way up to his head, but he had the freshest cornrows. I couldn’t even do my daughter’s hair that well. That’s the first time I’ve seen hair that was non-flammable.
5. Animal abuse pics. Another example of how much of a shame it is that people are this starved for attention and this one is very similar to the ones about children, but these are aimed at the animal lovers out there. If you care about animal abuse or you don’t like it, you better share that pic to prove it. Right. People really put animals in messed up situations just to take a picture and put it on Facebook. Some would even go as far as to abuse an animal for that same purpose. One that comes to mind is a dog that’s standing out in the street in pouring rain. Again, “SHARE IF YOU CARE, IGNORE IF YOU DON’T CARE.” Now I don’t know if that’s a photoshopped pic, but even if it wasn’t, someone really would sit there and take a picture of the dog in that situation, but not at least try to bring it to safety? Even if they don’t take the dog with them, at least get them out of the rain. But again, the authenticity of the pics are suspect to begin with, so it’s not even worth it to try and analyze.
6. Pics where one group of some kind is shaming another. “Real women have curves” is one that’s just the epitome of silly and juvenile. We’re told as kids that everyone is made differently, so how does that change when we’re adults? Any woman with an ounce of sense will still keep this in mind, so to think that skinny women are “fake” is just pitiful. Just as you may be saying that you can’t lose weight, there are women out there who can’t gain it. So who decides which is real and which isn’t? And if your first thought is that another woman “isn’t real” because she happens to not be carrying extra weight that you may or may not have, then you may need to take a good look in the mirror, and I don’t mean at your body.
There are too many more to name here, but all I’ll say is this…before you’re quick to share things like that, just remember that there’s a good chance you DO have friends who fall in the category of who you’re trying to shame, so before you rush to share to get those “likes,” THINK.
7. Anything with blatantly bad spelling or grammar. Yes, I went there. Call me a “Grammar Nazi” if you want, but spelling words that my 9-year-old can spell correctly take all the credibility out of the post, and if you rush to share it with blatant mistakes like that, you’re just as bad. I’m not talking about posts that are several paragraphs long with a few typos here and there. I’m talking about those quotes that are plastered on some picture or on a meme with some celebrity. Those usually have just one or two sentences. If you’re too lazy to proofread that, then don’t try to “school” me on anything.
8. Anything that ends with, “I’ll bet none of you will post this,” or “Only those who are my true friends will share.” That’s kid stuff. You’re being “dared” to share something. It doesn’t even matter what it is, and you’re doing it. I’m willing to bet that it’s not because of what’s being said, but the whole “I’ll bet you won’t post this” at the end. Is it really THAT easy? Oh yeah…of course it is.
9. The pictures where it says to type a number in the comments and then something in the picture will change and to “WATCH IT, BECAUSE IT’S SOOO COOL!” You have GOT to be kidding me on this one. Type something in the comments and something in the PICTURE will change? I don’t even know what else to say about those who fall for this one.
10. All those pics with noble causes, but manipulate you into “liking” or “sharing” if you really care about them. So let me get this straight…if I don’t “like” or “share” the pic, that somehow means that I love cancer, I love child/animal abuse, I hate Jesus, I don’t love my mother, and so on and so forth? So now the entire nature and fabric of my personality lies in whether or not I like or share a certain picture? Well apparently, some seem to believe that it does, so they rush to do it. There’s nothing wrong with announcing that you’re either against the bad things or for the good things, but to like and share pictures as a way of showing it, and then that’s the ONLY time you have anything to do with it? You know what I’d love to see? People write posts that are from the heart. Don’t just say you hate cancer. Tell us why, and IN YOUR OWN WORDS. I would honestly respect something like that a hell of a lot more than some mindless quotes that just kept going around. Then again, that would require some folks to actually think for themselves and well…you know. That’s asking too much.
Nah, I don’t expect anyone to change or stop doing this. Of course not. Hell, some will probably read this and share some of this stuff just to spite me. That’s cute. It just proves my point is all. And before anyone says, “It doesn’t hurt anything” or “Just in case,” remember that there are a lot of things that could happen to you that “doesn’t hurt anything” or things you should do “just in case,” but you don’t do them.
It’s because in those cases, you’re using your brain. Use it here, too.
People's Court 