"A word in earnest is as good as a speech"
~Charles Dickens: Bleak House

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Facebook Activist ......

These days I find myself very comfortable on my couch when I get home from work. Having Lupus sometimes makes it difficult to get through the commute home, never mind then going back out into the world to support the causes that are most important to me.

I also am not a millionaire - so supporting these causes financially is not always an option either.

But I have facebook!!! Before FB, before television, before radio, before the printing press people stood on their "soap box" in the town common and spoke as loud as they could! That was how people put forth the news of the day .... word of mouth. It was neighbors talking over the fence, parishioners chatting after church, parents talking at school events. That is how news got out.

I heard a BBC news program about the 4th Plinth at Trafalgar Square and I remember thinking "this is what the world was like before the Internet."

But today I saw this status on a friend's page, and I quickly posted it to my page and looked back at my profile. Aside from the cute things my four-year-old says, the not so cute things my teenager says and the Zynga games (for which I am realizing I need a support group), I am very politically motivated in my posts. I post videos and news articles, and debate with friends who have different views. I have also been known to update my status during the Presidential State of the Union in the same way people update during the Superbowl or Stanley Cup.

Facebook is my soapbox and now I have this blog. I don't know if people will pay attention or change their minds. I hope that somehow something I say will hit home with someone and society will somehow become more fair and just. The Internet is like a huge common area ..... but if every inch of the common is covered with soap boxes, everyone speaking at the same time, in the same loud voice, does anyone really get heard?

I am a facebook addict activist .... passing on information and opinion, hoping my voice is heard by people who have the time and energy I once had ...... here is the message for the day!

1 comment:

  1. Facebook rocks - you wouldn't believe some of the stuff I have found on there!

    I agree that the internet and its vastness can be intimidating, but keep at it and be patient, and you won't believe how many people hear you. :-)

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