I have an idea, people. How about using words?
I know, I know, I'm largely alone in my disdain for this new feature on Facebook. I am aware that I am a lone voice in an echoing silence that now needs even fewer words than it did ever before.
Have you noticed that? We don't talk to each other anymore. Not even on social media. Each person throws his or her words out there into the wind, and all we get back are "reactions". There is no conversation. We don't talk face-to-face. We don't even phone each other anymore. We post on social media. We text. But we don't hear each other's voices anymore. And now, we don't even use words. We just "react".
Before Facebook reactions came into effect, I could either "like" something, or write a comment. I might post this: "Got into a car accident this morning. I'm so thankful I wasn't hurt, but my car is a wreck." You read it. Goodness, emotional dilemma. Do you "like" this? After all, you do like that I wasn't hurt. But you don't like that I was in an accident. So what do you do? You ignore the like button, and you use words. "Wow, so glad you weren't hurt, but how awful about the car!" But now Facebook has solved your emotional dilemma. You can "wow" my status, or "sad" it, or "mad" it. And let me figure out what on earth that means. She "sadded" my status. (Never mind the horrors this is going to introduce to our already-beleaguered English language - welcome to a whole bunch of new nerbs - nouns that have been forced to act like verbs.) Does that mean she's sad I wasn't hurt? She's secretly hoping I had been hurt? She's sad about the accident, but happy I wasn't hurt? How am I supposed to interpret her reaction? Why is she indicating surprise? Is she surprised I wasn't hurt? Surprised my car is wrecked? Surprised I haven't gotten into an accident long ago? Surprised I'm not dead yet?
Reactions tell us nothing. Our world is already full of people who expect others to understand them without having to actually articulate what they want or need. What do you mean, you bought me a blender for my birthday? You should have instinctively known I wanted jewelry, even though I told you it didn't matter what you got me, and I've been complaining about my cruddy blender for ages! What do you mean you didn't know I was angry at you? I know I said I wasn't angry at you, but you should have been able to flawlessly interpret my door slamming, bitter silences, and the fact that I cooked the foods you hate most all in one meal, and discerned the reason for my anger! And now we'll just carry that on to social media.
We'll just create a black hole of non-community, people living parallel lives without ever truly connecting, people who walk around reacting without ever responding.
I know I'm alone in my concerns. I'm getting used to that. But it grieves me. It truly does.
Over a year ago, I pledged to myself not to use the "like" button on Facebook anymore. That means I couldn't respond to everything I see and hear on Facebook. That was ok; I can't respond to every person in the world, either. But it has meant that I would actually respond to a few things. I would not just react. I used words to tell you that I'm praying, or that I think your child is adorable, or that I am sad about the bad news you've shared. I would not react to all your photos, but I tried to respond to a few of the ones I loved best. Which means I actually looked at them, and decide on which ones I liked the best. I tried, in some small way, to be a real person behind the photo. A person who uses words.
We are allowing ourselves to be reduced to "likes", "loves", "ha-has", "wows", "sads", and "mads".
Please. I plead. Use words. Jesus did.
"In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God. . . .
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us,
full of grace and truth" (John 1:1, 14).
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