I “unfriended” someone on Facebook recently, but not for any of the reasons you might suspect. This guy didn’t make threats, or use profanity, or engage in name-calling, or say anything remotely supportive of our so-called president.
What happened is this. I posted a link to a news story that I found interesting. The topic isn't important, but I will say it had nothing to do with politics. My “friend,” it turns out, did not share my interest. No problem there. He could have ignored my post. Or he could have written that he couldn’t care less about the topic. He might even have explained why the subject bored him. Instead, he had a three-word response that I've seen many times on social media, from many people and on many topics. It is a reaction that I've always found unacceptably arrogant, and always will: “No one cares.”
Well, 4,000 people liked this particular New York Times story on Facebook. More than 1,400 people shared it. And the string of comments was very lengthy. On that basis alone, my "friend" obviously didn't know what he was talking about. More importantly, I don’t need “friends,” virtual or real, who assume the entire world agrees with their outlook on, well, everything. During my increasingly rare Facebook forays, I scroll through countless links and topics and comments that bore me, but I would never be foolish or myopic enough to claim that everyone shares my reaction.
There's a world of difference between "I don't care" and "no one cares."
What kind of pathetically self-absorbed person would presume no one is interested in a topic, simply because he is not? The kind of narcissist who currently occupies the White House, for one. Or a former Facebook “friend” of mine, for another. Life is too short to take either one seriously.
What happened is this. I posted a link to a news story that I found interesting. The topic isn't important, but I will say it had nothing to do with politics. My “friend,” it turns out, did not share my interest. No problem there. He could have ignored my post. Or he could have written that he couldn’t care less about the topic. He might even have explained why the subject bored him. Instead, he had a three-word response that I've seen many times on social media, from many people and on many topics. It is a reaction that I've always found unacceptably arrogant, and always will: “No one cares.”
Well, 4,000 people liked this particular New York Times story on Facebook. More than 1,400 people shared it. And the string of comments was very lengthy. On that basis alone, my "friend" obviously didn't know what he was talking about. More importantly, I don’t need “friends,” virtual or real, who assume the entire world agrees with their outlook on, well, everything. During my increasingly rare Facebook forays, I scroll through countless links and topics and comments that bore me, but I would never be foolish or myopic enough to claim that everyone shares my reaction.
There's a world of difference between "I don't care" and "no one cares."
What kind of pathetically self-absorbed person would presume no one is interested in a topic, simply because he is not? The kind of narcissist who currently occupies the White House, for one. Or a former Facebook “friend” of mine, for another. Life is too short to take either one seriously.
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