Hey look! It's an update that's written before the next crescent moon! Go me!
Today's blog hit me like a diarrhea cramp while I was cruising around on Facebook. You see, last night was a big night for WVU basketball fans - we won our NCAA March Madness Elite 8 game against #1 seed Kentucky, so we're headed to the Final 4. Anyway, as I was reading the outpouring of WVU love, reminiscing about couch fires,
and generally glossing over all the really shitty things that happened while I lived 9 years in Morgantown, I started noticing a lot of pissing on the pride parades on my friends' status updates.
Things like:
"Fuck WVU"
"Buncha redneck hillbillies."
"It doesn't matter, _________(insert other Final Four team here)'s gonna win the whole thing anyway."
"There's gonna be a lot of cousin-lovin' in WV tonight."
And you might say, "But Molly, you hate sports! Why do you give a shit?!"
and you'd be (mostly) correct.
But it's not just with sports. Let's take the Health Care bill that was passed last weekend. I don't know about you, but I noticed a lot of downright hateful comments being shuffled around on my friends status updates by their "friends," no matter what side of the issue my friends stood on. (Also, I'm totally not pointing fingers at only Republicans here. I definitely read some ridiculous nonsense being pushed by Dems too.) I do know a lot of friend lists that were downgraded because of some of the vitriol being spewed all over the place. Call it the "Great Purge of '10."
I'm not going to lie - these issues don't truly affect me personally, because 1). Most of my Facebook friends are truly friends, and, while we might have differing opinions on things like Healthcare, Politics, and which Division 1 basketball team is better, I respect their opinions enough (much like they respect my fists) that, friendly banter aside, we all avoid posting our differing asshole opinions on each others pages; and 2). Most of the time, it's just not my business. Sure, I'll do a little trash-talkin' here and there, but usually, I like to reserve my truly nasty opinions for a good old-fashioned face-to-face bitch-out.
And I'm not going to get into a whole debate about "over-sharing" on the Internet, because, quite frankly, I don't give a shit what you say or do, or who you call out on your own page.
Classic over-share! Poor grandma!
And I also think that people need to stop being whiny little bitches - over-sharing is the new black. As far as I'm concerned, if you're shocked about what you're reading on my Facebook page, then why are you my friend at all? A real friend would always want to know that I'm being a raging bitch because I've started my period.
RAWR! CRAMPS!
But, since I feel like this post has gotten a little off track (big shocker there), I'll bring it all back around. Why do people feel the need to shit on your head and tell you it's raining mud pies?
Or, weird analogies (that I just made up) aside, why are there so many Trolls on Facebook? Why do people feel like it's their duty to not only disagree with you, but to also tell you in so many unkind words, why you're a fuckin' dickhead who's WRONG!?
I think the worst part is, it's usually people you don't know. For example, your friend may post a status update that says something like the following:
"I hate pie because berries give me the shits."
And that will be followed by a few "Likes," and a couple "Me Too's." But there's always that one person who's gotta throw in their two sense (and it's usually written in caps): "PIE IS THE BEST AND ANYONE WHO DOESN'T LIKE IT CAN EAT A BAG OF DICKS. THAT MEANS YOU, GRANDPA."
Or, I love when you take a cult classic show like LOST, throw in a little criticism, and out of the woodwork come the fanboys who have things to say like, "ZOMG! HOW DARE YOU SAY ANYTHING BAD ABOUT KATE. DAMON LINDELOFF AND CARLTON CUSE ARE GENIUSES WHO DESERVE A NOBEL PEACE PRIZE!!!11!! FAG!!!1!"
and then follow up with the classic thread-stopper:
"YOU'RE THE TROLL!!!!" (again, all in caps).
and then, much like Jack, they retreat to their corner and sit in a ball crying their eyes out because you insulted their hero(s).
I guess the point of all this rambling is that, over-sharing aside, people need to learn to just shut the fuck up. There comes a time when, regardless of your differing opinion, you just need to let some status updates go. For example, if one of your friends is in the midst of celebrating their upset win over the #1 basketball seed, now is probably not the time to start pointing out how awesome your team is.
Likewise - if you don't agree with your friend's opinion on healthcare, unless something they're saying is FACTUALLY incorrect, just STFU about it. Because that's the other thing. We've all heard the old adage, "Opinions are like armpits - everyone has them and some of them stink." I'm telling you here and now, truer words have never been said.
By all means, if your friend has posted faulty information in their status update - for example:
"Obama's Healthcare plan states that it's mandatory for all Americans to get anally raped by doctors, and then let it rain fetuses from the sky,"
then I'm all for you saying something to correct someone so misguided.
However, if your friend writes:
"I don't understand why all the Congress Republicans voted against a national healthcare plan."
now is not the time to bust out your reply of, "BECAUSE ALL DEMOCRATS ARE COMMIES WHO WANT TO TAKE OUR GUNS AND FORCE US TO PAY FOR THEIR ABORTIONS!" That, friend, is not a fact. It is an opinion. (And I'll hold in all personal comments about it being an absolutely fucking moronic one).
Likewise, when you might be having a friendly debate, it does not "settle" it to say something along the lines of, "Well, you just don't 'GET' _____________*."(*insert fanboy favorite here). The reason this is unacceptable is because it implies that you do "GET" it, and therefore, are superior, when in reality, just because that person may not particularly enjoy a certain aspect of a show, they are not actually inferior to you. In fact, they might just be able to kick your ass at say, an IQ test. Or Parcheesi.
So, in closing, I'd just like everyone to think before they post a reply, "Am I doing this just to be a dick? Am I posting this to 'correct' my poor, misguided, ignoramus friends and turn them onto a more enlightened path like the one I'm currently on?"
If you answered "Yes," to either of those, then just don't. Because you know what I hate more than Facebook Trolls? Having to tell someone to eat a bag of Dicks.