The Facebook Follies
Sep 18
Just when I think I’m out . . . they pull me back in.
Every time I decide that Facebook is at best a waste of time, at worst a thing that makes me crazy. . . .
Something happens that makes me hit that FB icon again and I’m back in thrall.
I’m sure you’ve heard that spending too much time on social media (how much is too much we wonder) can be negative to your mental health. But why exactly?
Everybody But Me Is Having Fun
Mainly because it gives you the impression that everyone else in the universe is having a swell— no, perfect, life— with nothing but great dinners (please stop posting photos of your food, dear reader), celebrations of all sorts, vacations to exotic lands, wonderful pets, especially cats, and even more wonderful spouses and happy families. This can lead, according the Failing New York Times and other sources, to anxiety and depression.
I know this, of course, but I’m still addicted to the Facebook Follies. Why? Because I find out stuff.
Friends, Family, Van Gogh, and. . . Robert Redford
My Aunt Loretta is moving to a really nice independent living facility and she’s over the moon about it. My brother’s sister-in-law, Jeanette is gravely ill. My sister in law, Jennifer, loves Gaudi and Barcelona. My cousin Pat still needs to get her teeth fixed, but her posts are so much more positive since she got her own apartment. My friend Diana changed her profile picture. She’s looking great.
Walter (Gogh Find Yourself) deForest had a ball in Europe performing at various fringe and non-fringe events and is back in in the States doing his informative and audacious one-man shows on Van Gogh. He looks just like him, doesn’t he? (Click here to check out his site.)
It’s important that I know all this: the good, the bad, the culturally informative, even the mildly interesting. A girl has to keep up with things.
My biggest problem these days are . . .
Those 101-Things-You-Didn’t-Know-About–Robert-Redford type of posts that suck you in for far too long before you get to the juicy parts, and often get you off track with pop-up ads that lead you to places you’d rather not be.
Frankly, the only thing I’d like to know about Redford is that he’s moving from the wilds of wherever to NYC, preferably to my building, and that he’s looking for a woman of a certain age to pal around with in Manhattan. Not bloody likely.
BTW, although he doesn’t look like he did back in the day, he’s still welcome in my world any day of the week. Ah, yes.
Now back to reality. Here’s another one:
What Your Home Looked Like the Year You Were Born
Really? I can’t ask my parents, who are no longer with us, but I’m willing to bet it wasn’t anywhere that snazzy. We lived in Brooklyn. Williamsburg. Before it was fashionable.
And how about all that medical and health stuff?
15 Signs of the Disease DuJour.
(You are guaranteed to have at least 3 of these signs.)
Why you shouldn’t eat . . . strawberries!
(Can you honestly think of anything that somebody hasn’t said is bad for you?)
“From the kitchen to the gas station, 7 carcinogens encountered everyday.” (Nowhere is safe.)
Oy vey. Talk about depression and anxiety.
Some of the other posts I’ve been sucked into lately include:
Eat Smarter, Spend Less
This was totally useless, with brilliant advice like “Eat the food that expires soonest first.” Duh. But at least it was a short list with no ads.
Something About Terrible Hygiene in the Dark Ages
(Or maybe it was the Elizabethan Age? Whatever.)
We all know that back then (whenever that was) they didn’t wash all that much, and they used perfumes to cover up the smell, and, not having a dry cleaner on every corner of the kingdom, they didn’t change clothes much either. This post did explain that they did wash the undergarments more often. But how often is more often, we are left wondering.
30 Celebrities You Didn’t Know Were Gay!
a)Who cares and b) I knew.
And my favorite,
WHAT THESE CELEBRITIES LOOK LIKE NOW!
Face it, you want to see how good, or to be perfectly honest, how bad, they have aged, so that you can forgive yourself for never having been famous. Not even for 15 minutes.
I, OTOH, was once, sorta, a celebrity although, alas, for only half that time. If you want to check it out, click on:
Meanwhile, see you on Facebook!
Hey Pat, thanks for continuing to post great stuff. In my travels I like being able to read up on whats happening.
Thanks you look pretty good yourself🤩
Let’s face it, Facebook has gotten old. All anyone talks about is health issues and the weather. Nuff said.
And we haven’t even mentioned all the horrible political trolls that are really depressing. And yet. I check it all too frequently.
I don’t care what you write about. It always makes me laugh!
That’s the idea! Thanks for your comment, Ruth.
“Can you honestly think of anything that somebody hasn’t said is bad for you?” – yes FB.
FB provides a range of emotions from fear to laughing. I think therefore I’m not on FB much.
I was referring to food: I get it that too many burgers are not great for me, and I even admit that The Mallomar diet is not a good idea, but when they start to attack strawberries, that’s a bridge too far. One guess where I read about this? Which is why I agree with you about cutting back on FB, not fruit.
But you do get birthday greetings
from a zillion people ( many that you thought were dead).
So it makes it all worth while …at least once a year.
I agree. I like the birthday wishes. Some of them are quite clever.
What if I went on FB just on that day? Wouldn’t work, would it. Besides I’ll never do it.
This is PERFECT!
I take it that you, too, have mixed feeling about Facebook.
We are not alone!
I’m with Diana. Never look at it.
What I don’t find out, somebody tells me sooner or later…
Actually, both Diana and I do look at it. We just get cranky.