Are you on Facebook (FB) and have had thoughts of leaving it? Perhaps the negativity has been too much and you’ve left … such a decision is exactly what the nay-sayers want. Perhaps the ads are a nuisance. Facebook can be frustrating. At times, it can be very frustrating! I’ve had those same frustrations and yet I choose to remain on social media – on Facebook.. I choose to be a realist with hope and choose to try to bring light into the darkness with personal and Soulistry blog posts.
It’s our choice as to who we follow on FB, whose posts we hide, who we unfriend, who we block. It’s our choice to leave – or stay. It’s our choice and I believe that it’s a choice that Darkness is eager to see us acquiesce, surrender, for then there would be one less Voice that stands for Light, that shares Light, that is Light.
If you are on FB and find that there is too much negativity on the posts you receive, start clicking on positive posts. “Like”, “Share”, “Love” the posts in groups, of friends who offer thoughtful, helpful, upbeat, hopeful, positive, life-giving things. Don’t click/read the negative posts or continue to ‘follow’ friends who seem to be posting yuck.
If you’re not seeing posts of your FB friends, go to their page and click on the “Following” icon and you’ll see options. Click “See First”. Sometimes, people change and if their viewpoints are too difficult for us and only political “points” are posted and it’s negative stuff, not conversation, we have a choice about whether we continue to follow them. We can still be their friends – just not follow their posts. I don’t think anyone likes the bullying that’s going on on FB at times, on either side.
If we were honest with ourselves we’d realize that there are people we connect with, people we know, people we don’t know (in the grocery store, in traffic, at a sports game etc.) whose anger seems to erupt for no reason and sometimes we’re the recipients of that anger / frustration / religious intolerance / racial prejudice / emotional distress / mental illness etc. We do what we can to avoid such people, but sometimes it happens (hence road rage etc.).
And what about FB “groups”? If you want to see the posts from a particular group (e.g. Soulistry, go to its page (www.facebook.com/groups/soulistry), click “notifications” and then click “see first.” Facebook has an algorithm that feeds stories and posts to you based on the kinds of stories and posts you follow, click “see first”, “like”, “love”, “share”. So when you do those things, you’ll see more of the posts from the groups you want to see.
FB is a free service and while there are some wonderful benefits (I’ve met some fabulous people, made some very special friends, learned lots), there are also consequences of being there. It’s up to us. We can choose who we’re friends with and who we follow. And if we don’t like the kinds of things they post overall, we can unfollow them, unfriend them, block them.
We can choose to remain on FB with people who bring Light or follow posts of people who bring Darkness. And in that vein, as many Soulistry blog followers are not on FB, I decided to share this post with you all here in the hopes that some of you will bring your light to Facebook and we’ll all benefit.
Martin Luther King said “Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that.” Let’s let Light shine and weave its way in hearts, words, actions. Hope to see you at Soulistry on Facebook.
© June Maffin
www.facebook.com/groups/soulistry
www.soulistry.com
www.soulistry.com/blog
www.soulistry.com/books
I didn’t know you had a FB group, so I’ve asked to join 🙂
Yes, I’m VERY selective of whom I follow and what I see online. Thankfully, my internet experiences have only been positive.
It’s a life-saver for housebound folk like me.