Messed Up Memes

I got a couple of messages on facebook today, about an average number, which were pre-printed memes saying “I’ve noticed that not all of my facebook friends are hanging on my every word and hitting the like button for all of my photographs of my cat sitting there looking terrified of the camera, to which I’d attached some anthropomorphizing statement, and I strongly suspect that none of you give a shit about me, so leave a one word message about how we met, or something stupid like that, and anybody who doesn’t do that and then share this, because what facebook really needs is more people shitting in the creek, I’m unfriending them forthwith.”
If everybody who ever sent me one of those messages was actually unfriending everybody who doesn’t share, then my number of friends would be down to a much more manageable number by now.
Another meme I don’t care for is the “I’m trying to teach my kids the dangers of social media so I want them to see how far and how fast this message will travel. Please share this to help me prove my point.” Sorry, lady. All you’re proving to your kid is that you’re just as big an attention whore as everybody else.
The whole purpose of social media (as I see it, anyway) is to reach as many people as possible. So, if you get lots of likes and shares, they will be encouraged rather than discouraged.
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In the learn-something-new-every-day project, someone today described a series of poems I am working on as ekphrastic. I had to look up the word, but it perfectly applies. I thought that was pretty cool.