The irritations and heartbreak of Facebook

My spouse put me on Facebook so I could keep updated on grandchildren.  I also found it a medium that kept me in touch with friends and acquaintances. But it often revealed things about some people that most people would rather not know.

I am dismayed at the exhibitionism of some people.  They are possessed by their own preciosity.  When I was in high school, the favored response to such displays was, "Well, smell me!"  They don't know the difference between letting others know what they are up to these days and putting themselves on display out of a conviction that the world needs something to admire.  They seem unaware that such displays are a regression to juvenile egotism.  I commented on this to a friend who agreed but said such self-displays were a symptom of dementia which can assail anyone.

It makes me think of the often-repeated ritual people go through when they receive some kind of an award.  With faux humility, they say, "I thank the people who made me what I am today,"  My internal response is, "You're thanking someone for creating a self-sucking twit?"

There really is no difference between people who post pictures of their genitalia and those who avariciously promote themselves with self-congratulatory posts of their latest activities.  Both are obscene.  And no one really wants to see them.  It would be more appropriate if they would simply post rectal portraits.  The imagery more accurately portrays the human characteristic involved.

Facebook is also a breeding ground for writing atrocities. It is a repository for mangled and abused language.  But it is a barometer for the state of literacy of the human species  of which Mark Twain said, "Can any plausible excuse be furnished for the crime of creating the human race?"  Facebook supports Twain's assessment.