A few days ago, I read, in careless passing (I am so ashamed to confess) about someone who committed suicide after he/she had posted it on Face book that he/she would. Read and gave no thought to it. #Bad. Myne Whitman had written about it a few months ago, I believe.
Committing suicide after posting it on FB ot twitter is becoming the norm. What excuse do we now have if we read before the act itself takes place, as opposed to first finding a body, then discovering a note.
So here I sit, eyes glazed and lost in thought, wondering who the friends of these people are, and not just who, but how many, on Facebook. I saw a funny post (on the same Face book) about someone who had died but only a handful of people attended his funeral, despite the fact that he had over 2000 friends on FB. We are not discounting (and whoever doesn’t think so is living in denial) the fact that majority of face book friends are just that…’face’ friends. There is no real relationship, no depth. The connection is only on face book, and anything outside it has to take real and conscious effort, and that usually happens when a personal relationship with the person already exist and you see them from time to time.
So, my thoughts as touching this very sad phenomenon veered toward taking responsibility for people who befriend us, and vice versa, either in person, or on all these social networks. Taking (as much as possible) an interest in their lives; what they say, what their philosophy is, trying to decipher their comments and updates. No one just speaks, no one. There is always a message, however subtle, behind everything that comes out of the mouth.
While it may be impossible to take an interest in the hundreds, if not thousands of people befriending and following us, I believe we owe a measure of responsibility to them because they believed that we have something that is good enough to pique their interest, enough to follow us.
It is time to do away with superficial relationships; and not gather friends for numbers’ sake. Are we in a competition?
We have repeatedly said that doing good does not have to begin in a big way, it really is in the little things that make up our day, and not necessarily only to people we know. Each day I try to ask myself if I stand condemned or justified in my actions as regards doing good to my ‘neighbor’. What am I remembered for? I really wonder.
I am resolved to take responsibility (as much as I possibly can), going forward, so help me God.
I happened to go searching for a statistical number of suicides that were announced on Face book before they happened, I found this link, which says pretty much what you have read up here…and will limit it to just this one link.
Be Free oh.
