I looked at Facebook today in a way I never have before. I looked at only the first ten posts that popped up from the “friends” in my current algorithm. I safely (hopefully) assume that what a person takes time to post is important to them. Personally, I rarely if ever post anything. I am content to occasionally comment on what my Facebook comrades choose to post.
Let me begin by qualifying my definition of “friend”. Though I currently have 773 Facebook friends, there is a difference in a Facebook “friend” (who is often a mere acquaintance, occasionally an unknown entity) and a true friend. My Facebook friends are often chosen merely because they sent a friend request which I accepted out of either courtesy or curiosity. True friends on Facebook are real persons who would come to my aid at their inconvenience at a moment’s notice if I called in desperate need. Sometimes Facebook friends and real friends are one and the same. Some of my very best, true friends are not even on Facebook.
My first “friend” pictured on Facebook is a retired gentleman who is displaying a picture from 21 hours ago of his latest catch of fish, a two pound trout. His post elicited thirteen positive comments and 38 likes or loves. I am happy for this friend, but I chose not to either comment or post.
(Commercial break to remind me of people I may know. Thank you, Facebook, but I already have more Facebook “friends” than I can communicate with now.)
My second friend is a fellow graduate from my high school class. She merely updated her profile picture ten hours ago. I am always glad to see pictures of my high school classmates, though I don’t even have a profile picture of myself posted. My classmate has, like me, aged, in her case gracefully (in my case, I’d not venture an opinion). Her updated profile picture received twelve comments (all favorable), one share and 42 likes/loves.
I used to attend the same church as did my third Facebook friend. She chose to post a picture (I think it is a share) one hour ago of someone else’s huge meal. It is captioned, “You go to a BBQ and get handed this plate—could you eat all this?” “This” consists of a hotdog (no bun), slaw, BBQ (no bun), pickles, roast beef, potato salad, ribs, and something I can’t quite identify. My comment, though I will not be posting it, is “For the most part, yes, if I hadn’t eaten for quite a few hours before.” The two who commented indicted that they would not be able to eat everything but would surely try. A third just replied, “Absolutely”.
(Advertisement for a flag pole kit. Sorry, I have mine already. This ad got lots of activity—6.6 thousand likes/loves, 470 comments, 652 shares, and 851 thousand views.)
My fourth Facebook friend is a fellow church member who has posted a verse of Scripture. Though I have not known this lady very long, I believe her to be a fine Christian woman. Though posted ten hours ago, it has received no comments and only eight likes/loves. I will become her ninth like. At present ten other than me have also liked or loved this post. Notice the vast difference in the response to a verse of Scripture and a flag pole advertisement, even though the time element is not listed on the advertisement.
(Interruption for another Facebook commercial titled “Facebook workers share why it’s important to get vaccinated”.)
Number five posted 41 minutes ago and included a not-so-nice word in her post. This is a rather unusual post from a quite unique individual that I barely know personally. So far, it has received only one love.
(Another commercial for a t-shirt with alcohol slogans praising the cleansing effects of alcohol—obviously this is not the rubbing or witch hazel type. It was liked and shared by a couple who together make up one of my Facebook “friends”. I wonder if this friendly couple actually meant to like this product, or if they accidently liked it as I once did Michelob Light beer! If they do indeed like the product and intentionally shared, they are not alone, as the product has received 3.9 thousand responses.)
Friend six is the same friend who posted someone else’s BBQ dinner. Now she posted an hour ago to tell her Facebook world that she is having a salad for lunch so she can have three dozen Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups tonight. I figure this was borrowed from someone else. Her one response suggested that she drink a Diet Coke with the Reese’s. Is this friend trying to send a message of his own?
I recognize the seventh friend as a minister who posted one day ago, thanking the Lord for saving his soul almost 34 years ago. I am pleased to know that he received thus far 132 likes/loves and 24 positive comments.
The eighth was posted five hours ago by someone who married into my family almost a quarter of a century ago. Her post was liked/loved by 32 people and received three positive comments. The post talked about people letting other people down, but God always being at the bottom to pick them back up.
I must say I wouldn’t know my ninth Facebook friend if he were standing right beside me. There was a time before I accumulated so many Facebook friends that I befriended all requests. Even a look at his profile and photos fails to help me remember him. He posted a cute, tasteful joke, a play on the words of a country music classic. He received 79 responses and fourteen comments, the funniest to me being, “I didn’t even know Folsom Prison was in California!”
(Must have one more “sponsored” commercial for “Top-Rated Walk-In-Showers” before I can get to friend number ten.)
I am happy for my tenth friend, as she and her family were obviously at Dollywood twenty hours ago. Fifty-one pictures help me re-live their visit vicariously, which is a much cheaper way to visit Dollywood than going there in person! Personally, I have not seen the need to spend that much money to visit that location in well over twenty years. I would like to go there sometime before I die and see the Gospel Music Hall of Fame. I commend my friends on their contribution to assist the planned half-a-million dollar expansion (coming soon to a Dollywood near you!).
The quality and enjoyment of Facebook has a great deal to do with the quality of friends chosen and kept. Facebook can be a great way of keeping in touch with friends that life has removed far from us physically. It can also be used to great benefit to spread good news and keep relatives informed on family events. Sadly, some choose to use if for negative purposes such as spreading gossip and extending family quarrels. Hopefully, if you are a Facebook participant you find the positive to far outweigh the negative and benefit greatly from this bit of social media.
Facebook can even be a learning tool, though I’d be surprised if you learn on Facebook that Chinese gooseberries actually come from New Zealand! I doubt that during the next week you’ll learn the color of the black box in a commercial airplane, but you will find the answer in next week’s Mincey’s Musings on historicunioncounty.com. Until then, here are a few points to ponder.

Someone once said, “Being popular on Facebook is like
sitting at the cool table in the cafeteria of a mental hospital.”

Someone else once said, “Give a person a fish and you feed them for a day.
Teach a person to use the Internet and they won't bother you
for weeks, months, maybe years.”

Seventy years ago, having a meaningful relationship
meant getting along with your cousins.