Don’t boss me around!
I have never liked being bossed around. Extreme bossiness is one of the irritations of the TSA lines at airports: “Take off your shoes!” “Belts and keys in the bin!” And on and on. Likewise, Facebook encourages a certain amount of bossiness in postings that my friends “share” on my page. They are good friends, which makes it all the more difficult not to comply with their commands. In the past 24 hours, I have been exhorted to:
“Share this to say, ‘Your sacrifice is not forgotten.’” (regarding dead Vietnam vets)
Of course I haven’t forgotten the people killed in Vietnam but do I have to declare it?
“Watch and share their precious moments together with your friends and family!” (video about love between a dog and a baby)
I am a sucker for babies, dogs and just about any animal doing something cute but if I shared all these adorable videos with my friends and family they’d “unfriend” me immediately.
“Type ‘Yes’ if you agree.” (about treating a janitor and a CEO with the same respect)
Who would disagree with this? And what difference would it make if I type “Yes”?
“If you love horses, type ‘Yes’ and share this video.” (Video of running horses.)
Oh, for god’s sake!
And the ever-popular:
“Pass it on if you agree.”
“LIKE if you agree!”
“TYPE ‘YES’ if you are with me.”
“Type ‘Yes’ if you agree.” (4 of these)
There was a canned post making the rounds a year or so ago about separating the posting person’s “true friends” from, well, I don’t quite know what—false friends? Despite the threat that only the “true friends” who responded as such would be retained, I stuck to my convictions and didn’t respond. And some people actually dropped me! So much for Facebook friendships.
If you are my friend and want to remain so, please don’t boss me around.
