There is a phenomenon I’ve noticed on social media where some people share memes with certain themes or ideas, some with regularity as though they are fixed on the same advice-giving platitude.
When sharing a meme, we should be aware of our audience.
On social media, it is highly likely that at least 1 in 10 of your friends may be struggling with forms of despair–loss, repeated loss, grief, hopelessness, rejection, self-rejection, and more. Some may even be wondering if there is anything left for them to live for.
I just find it jarring when people seem compelled to regularly share some type of meme that might be received by someone on the edge as somehow pejorative. One always risks that by widely sharing certain types of memes, inevitably it will be taken as salt in the wound of that 1 in 10 friend. Or, maybe that 1 in 100.
Why care about that 1 in 100 person? Some lost sheep that has wandered off the beat-and-path of easy-peasy-attitude-choice. Maybe you feel compelled to remind them of the attitude/outlook they should have because…you know.
Awhile back I learned of a term I hadn’t heard before, though I (and most people) know exactly what it means.
Toxic positivity.
Look it up.
I just want to remind people that pushing your finger on the button that shares some carte blanche meme to mass numbers of people is easy. In fact, it is cheap. It costs you nothing, nada.
It only gives you the satisfaction that you have somehow instructed others how to manage their despair.
If you are concerned that one of your 1,000 social media friends needs some type of positive pep talk, why not private message them or call them on the phone? I imagine the thought of that might sound more difficult than just firing off rounds of memes. I mean, what if the person has some real, heavy burden.
What if they cry?
What if your words hurt them–your presumptious advice for some problem you don’t know a thing about.
Yeah…that would be difficult and potentially negative–not like Googling some meme.
Maybe I’m just over-reacting. Maybe those that engage in this behavior are actually trying to tell themselves to be positive. Who knows.
I struggle almost daily now with a number of things in the realm of very real despair. Some days are better than others.
I’m just going to say it–Jesus didn’t tell us that we can simply choose our way into happiness.
He just didn’t.
Jesus told us that in this world we will suffer, and He told us a number of other things–leaving an example that we may walk in His steps.
In Jesus, we have One that knows our pains and griefs and is able to sympathize with our weaknesses.
Awhile back I saw a meme that said, “Why look back when there is so much to look forward to?”
I suppose the implication to that might be, “Sometimes people look back because they feel they have nothing left to look forward to.” How’s that for a meme?
At the time I had checked in to scroll through social media, I was feeling very particularly that I have nothing to look forward to. In fact, it was right before Christmas. Seeing that meme, only intensified the sense of pain I was carrying and battling that day. I wondered to myself, why would someone choose the time of year that is highest for despair in a number of ways to share that message? Why?
That same day, I saw another meme that had the opposite effect on me. I felt encouraged. I felt less alone somehow, that someone else empathized with similar struggles.
I don’t know what guidelines there should be for the art of sharing a meme…I really don’t. I believe in free speech, so, of course each person can say whatever they want for whatever reason they find motivates them.
As I select the tag categories on this piece I include “Writings on Violence in its Various Forms.” Is it possible that well-meaning words can be a form of violence when used without discretion?
Absolutely.
Shalom.
(written 12/2/22 to 1/9/23)
Don’t wake up your neighbors early in the morning with a shout of
~Proverbs 27:14 (ERV)
“Good morning!”
They will treat it like a curse,
not a blessing.
Thank You For Reading
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