Internet Peep show

        

         Ok I am conflicted about this. Sort of. Lately I have been seeing a whole slew of Facebook pictures of daughters holding up signs stating their parents are trying to teach them the dangers of social media so please share this picture with everyone to show them. 

Just think about that hot mess for a second. 

Somewhere in that parents brain this made sense. I will post a picture of my daughter (who is usually around 14) looking cute (because NO ONE posts pictures of their kids ungroomed) then ask a whole bunch of strangers to share this around. Seriously. So your plan is to do the exact thing you are trying to teach your kids to avoid? WTF kind of logic disconnect is that? Super lesson... heres the ironic parental award of the year.  

ummm...irony.

            Ok I get teaching your kids that the internet is permissible. Those pictures can be reproduced and shared and passed around. That what you put out there is subject to decimation and scrutiny. Got it. That being said is what is going out there REALLY that big of a deal or has the stranger danger generation amped up the drama here a little.

 Before social media people still took selfies and dick picts. They were printed out... Remember developing film? Yeahhh... do you honestly believe that the minimum wage clerk developing your pictures didn’t make a few extra copies to pass around? Yeeeaaahh. Moreover do I REALLY give a shit if someone hears about what I am interested in or my day? No not really. I live my life. It’s like yours. Mostly. I make mistakes, act stupid, occasionally get drunk, and occasionally get it right. I am fallible just like every other human out there. 

So why the sky is falling routine when it comes to social media? 

Because its tangible.

               Think about it. Seriously. The information that is being “Breeched” (and I type that with the most sarcasm I can) is probably the same information someonecould have gotten from gossip, asking a friend, or the damn phone book but on social media we have tangible proof of the “violation”. Unlike accusing your pal of spilling your secrets and having them deny it. We can look up the share, the retweet, the post and feel like the district attorney in our outrage. But does it really matter or is it about the illusion of us being in control? Guess what? Pick the red pill Neo because the idea of control is really an illusion.

               But what about the CHILDREN!? 

              I get that when children are involved we all get bristly. I get that no one wants a creeper looking at their kid but can we really ever keep that from happening 100%? Sure if we dyed all the pedophiles orange and tattooed creep on their forehead (congress get on that) then probably but beyond that we again don’t have ultimate control. Which is terrifying. I get it.  I have a little boy. I post pictures of him and have my profile locked to only friends. I don’t post pictures of him naked and generally use the ‘will this embarrass him If yes then don’t share’ rule.  I know that locking a profile is not bullet proof but nothing really is. Any douche with a cell phone at the playground could take his picture. Yes pedophiles exist. Teaching your kid safety is very important.  Assuming you can cloak your kid from creeps by ‘teaching them the dangers of social media’ is just precious and isn’t effective at all. 

               So here is my take on it. Think before you post and follow a few basic rules; be kind when you can, do no harm, admit you are human and so are others and chive on. Being stupid on social media is fine so long as you own it. If you make an ass of yourself at a bar and post drunken pictures, be able to laugh at your own stupidity because we are all morons at one time or another. If you have political beliefs, cool. Take your stance and respect others stances. If you are of a certain orientation, awesome. Who the fuck is anyone to tell you that’s wrong?

             And lets all stop the hyper-judgy jump to conclusions game. No, no ones life is as awesome as they want to make it on facebook. but seriously people, do you honestly expect it to be a representation of the whole person? fuck no. If you want to know the entire individual you should try the ancient technique of TALKING to them prior to drawing a conclusion. If they are an ass, then judge away but at least you met the entire person and made an informed decision. 

         As to someone knowing if I like a particular show or my home town? *shrug* I am not a spy. If you ask me I will probably tell you what ever you want to know. The six degrees of kevin bacon applied to general population says we probably have a mutual friend and you could ask them if you were feeling sneaky. I don’t believe the NSA really gives a shit about my hobbies. If someone is a creeper they will be a creeper to me if we are friends on bookface or not. Control about people ‘knowing’ about you is an illusion. No one can control that 100%. 

Own your imperfections, 

stop judging others on snippets of life, 

breathe and take the red pill Neo.