It’s Time to Upgrade Your Damned Facebook Rants

Whenever a real-world tragedy occurs, it seems the only appropriate response in the modern world is to let the world know how reasonable and compassionate you are by the content of your online posts.

Logging into Facebook three weeks ago, I was inundated with Eiffel Tower peace signs and French flag profile pictures. Facebook even offered to update my profile photo with a “temporary” French flag. I was elated that I could display such compassion with just a click. I don’t even need to exhaust my precious brain power to write an emotional or witty post. I wouldn’t need to worry about seeming out of touch because the overlay was temporary. Facebook would remove the blue, white, and red before anyone asked “so you’re still on that Paris thing, huh?” If the profile photo overlay didn’t get enough likes, I can choose from a pre-populated list of emotions or pour my heart out into an emoji to prove to the world that I am one worldly, compassionate, sonofabitch.

The Syrian refugee crisis was brought to the top of our Facebook feeds a few months ago when a riveting photo by Nilufer Demir was published. The heartbreaking image depicted a dead Syrian boy named Aylan on the edge of a Turkish beach. It served as an emotionally jarring photographic representation of the realities faced by refugees from the middle east. Such a powerful image couldn’t be overlooked by the self-righteous amongst us, and was dutifully added to news feeds and replaced profile photos. As the oppressed people around the world paused to logged into their Facebook accounts, the image of a dead child no doubt brought them hope. I’m sure the show of solidarity allowed them to momentarily set aside concern about their family’s safety to rejoice at your effort. Sadly, while war had raged in Syria for over four years, it took an image of a dead child OUTSIDE of Syria for anyone to give enough of a damn to post it on Facebook.

Now, the latest fad in online solidarity is anti-gun posts. Logically, because guns were used in the San Bernardino massacre, they must be eradicated. With every anti-gun post I encounter, I’m left in awe of the wisdom and pacifism of the author. Not only have they identified the problem (gun deaths) and isolated the cause (guns), they have also unearthed the solution (no more guns). They thusly post this revelation on Facebook with the determination this solution will end gun-related violence in this country the same way that vaccines ended polio. I’m sure it seems that simple, sitting on the patio of your middle-class home, in a safe suburban community protected by gun-toting police officers. We could just outlaw guns and get rid of the problem the same way we ended this country’s drug-related violence and deaths through prohibition efforts.

Real world problem. Online solution.

Problem: terrorist attack in Paris.
Solution: update profile photo to image of Eiffel Tower

Problem: millions of Syrians have been displaced and hundreds of thousands have died in a civil war that the US government is supporting.
Solution: post emotionally jarring image of dead child on Facebook.

Problem: mass shooting in San Bernadino, California.
Solution: update status to include anti-gun views.

None of these “solutions” do a damned thing. They don’t even serve to “raise awareness.” At best, these posts are self-aggrandizing self-promotion of your self-perceived moral superiority. At worst, these are the immoral acts of charlatans encouraging others to become martyrs.

Posting on Facebook is not taking action! Do not be lulled into this masturbatory belief that you’ve done a “good deed” by “starting a conversation.” No, what you are doing is distracting from the problem. You’re not encouraging real exploration into the cause of the problem. You’re not encouraging action. You’re not encouraging people to question what they have been told. You’re not encouraging people to dream up creative solutions to the problems of the world. You’re not encouraging people to get out from behind their computers and go make the world a better place. You’re simply gauging your morality by the number of likes and comments you receive. You’ve misdirected your energy and encourage others to do the same. And with that, you’ve become part of the problem.

[Note: if you think this post is about you, then it probably is. I identified over a dozen people on my Facebook feed who closely fit this description. Bored with counting, I began writing this post. I’ll likely post a link to this article as a response to your next online outburst.]

Provide some real value

Charity

Rather than waste your time with a new profile photo, why not spend five minutes doing a bit of research? Research the charities who are aiding a cause and identify one you believe is most impactful. Then, if you’re not ready to devote your life to bettering the lives of Syrian refugees, you could instead lead the charge by making a donation or starting a small fundraising drive. The people on your Facebook feed, in your office, and in your community will thank you because you’ve completed the research for them. Your five minutes of research has put them within a click of donating $5 to a cause that will leave them feeling better than the latte they would have otherwise bought with that money.

You may be surprised to learn that this tactic also works with causes like the earthquakes in Haiti, bombings in Lebanon, terrorist attacks in Paris, and yes, even attacks in San Bernardino.

Make your opinion matter

But maybe raising money isn’t your style. Instead, you could write a letter to your elected officials to share your views on how the United States should respond to the war in Syria or the attacks in Paris. Maybe you’d like to make your views on gun legislation known. By investing just a few minutes and less than one dollar, you can upgrade your rants from impotent online wailings to motivational and politically impactful statements. Here are the steps to accomplish such a feat:

1. Copy your Facebook post into Word or Google Docs
2. Look up the address for your elected officials
3. To the beginning add “Dear Mr./Ms. [Name of elected official].” To the end, add “Sincerely, [Your Name].”
4. Print and sign the document.
5. Take a photo of the letter.
6. Place letter in an addressed & stamped envelope.
7. Place envelope in the mailbox.
8. Post a photo of the letter you sent to your elected official on your Facebook profile.

Leverage Facebook offline

Charity and letter writing don’t interest you? You haven’t run out of options yet. There are things you can do within Facebook to spark political and social change. A recent episode of the podcast “Reply All,” gives an inspiring example of this from Guatemala. Lucia Mendizabal was fed up with online rants about the corruption of Roxana Baldetti, the Vice President of Guatemala. So Lucia used Facebook to up her game. Realizing the futility of online political bickering, she decided to stage a protest against the corrupt VP. To issue her call to action, she created an event on Facebook. This event (which did require her to get up from her computer and actually show up at the protest), led to the resignation of the VP. Momentum from that event didn’t end with Baldetti’s resignation. Lucia’s event precipitated events leading to the ouster and imprisonment of Otto Perez Molina, the likewise corrupt President of Guatemala.

Research

Last, but certainly not least, you can add more than just hot air to the conversation by doing some research. While the emotions that Donald Trump’s latest statements evoked may hold importance in your life, I’m not going to base my decisions on your emotions. The good news is you no longer need to limit your research to Drudge Report headlines or the Huffington Post article in your newsfeed. While it may sound painful and scholastic, you could spend some time on Google to uncover little-known facts about a topic. Maybe you could use Wolfram Alpha to uncover a correlation? Or you could refute an article by using the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation’s online health data visualization tool.

You can increase the impact of your research by combining it with one of the other aforementioned options. But if you’re not feeling up to writing to a politician, starting a charitable campaign, or figuring out how to create an event on Facebook, research on its own is still a wonderful thing. Just imagine how much more important you will sound when you’ve got real facts supporting your opinions!