Social Networks

My "friends" on facebook include over 1,000 friends, but I probably only know 1/5 of them. When I was in middle school the more friends on facebook you have the better. Which is now equivalent to the same as the amont of followers/likes you get determines how "popular" you were. Anyway when I scroll down my facebook I see a lo of nonsense. Its birthday posts for their "bff", food, obituary posts for someone who lost a loved one, some fitness person going on and on about how they ran a breezy 10 miles today, people sharing their opinions on facebook with no hard facts, many adorable puppy posts, someone doing a "check in" at the airport or a restaurant, optimistic posts/quotes, and many more people posting crazy statuses. A few things posted in the last few days that caught my eye was a 17 year old girl fro my high school who got pregnant and the father is 29. He beat her Friday night and the baby miraculously survived. She uploaded a selfie of her and the father in the hospital with the caption "love is always stronger than violence". I was extremely confused as to how they made up so fast, why he beat her, and of course why did she forgive him especially when she is carrying his child. I had to ask myself is she serious or is she just fronting for facebook? I mean her face is mauled, her child barely lived, and she is perfectly fine with all of this? Another post I see a lot is the same girl doing a "check in" at the hospital. She's 16 from a very low socioeconomic family. I swear this is like a daily post. I must be the only person who thinks this is a cry for attention all the time because theres always tons and tons of comments telling her to text them if they need anything and to get well soon. In the comments you can always figure out why she's in there that day. The post I saw this weekend she was in there for "a really bad stomach ache!!! Ive had it for hours and it just wont go away mom thinks I could have an issue with my gallbladder!!". She went to the hospital for a stomach ache and is jumping to the conclusion while in the waiting room that she has a gallbladder problem. I have never had a conversation with either of these females, but with the amount of posts they choose to post a day makes their name well known on my friends list. They also both share a ton of almost random photos and posts on facebook. There is not a time I am ever on facebook without seeing a post from one of them, it almost screams for attention.

I believe in our society we all can seem to have a alter ego. On my facebook I must come off as an extreme dog freak, I constantly share photos or videos of dogs. I believe the posts I see about dogs are aimed mostly at women, the dogs are always in cute sweaters, or have flowers in their fur, or accidentally broke into a women's makeup. I do not believe all posts or ads are gendered, but they can easily be. I believe most of the posts on facebook have a story behind them. They are usually aimed toward a certain person on their friends list. I see so many people post about back stabbing family members, as if their family wont see it. Many people front for all social media, not just facebook.  Social media is really good for connecting people or keeping up with people you don't get the chance to see often. What you choose to post and share is a huge part in your online image. It can be extremely misleading the things people say and post.

Slightly off-topic: When doing my homework while sitting next to my boyfriend he asked what homework I was doing, I read him our prompt. He laughed and said "I post about how I'm an exhausted EMT who makes less saving lives, in comparison to garbage men". I thought this was interesting about how many people complain about lack of upward mobility or low pay on facebook.