Sometimes I feel like none us of have ever actually left high school. The same lunchroom politics that influenced our “coolness” junior and senior year are the exact same ones that still come out in many social situations to this day. Take Facebook for instance. It’s just one big online lunchroom. The cliques that have organically developed as we all get more and more intertwined with the social media bazaar seem much like the groups I would see in my high school cafeteria when I tried to find the “correct” spot to sit and enjoy my PB&J.
At one table would be the bullies, the jocks, the guys who thought life will always be that awesome, that they’d always be revered as a god amongst men, and are now stuck in a suburban hell of their own making desperately pining to be 17 again, which is pretty sad when I sit and think about it. These are the hyper-aggressive people on Facebook that attack others by writing uncalled for things on their walls condemning their political views, religious stances, or just about anything they can grasp onto that will demean their “friend” and puff up their own chest a bit more as they hope for a fleeting whiff of the bygone glory days.
Then you have the gossip mongers. Remember them in high school? The girls who would whisper and giggle in the hallway as they played their own game of telephone to spread the news about who made out with who in which basement the night before (but don’t tell anyone because if his girlfriend found out there’d be drama… which they all secretly want of course). On FB these are the ones who post inappropriate pictures of others or call out people unnecessarily. Or they gather in their little clutch to discuss what Sally was wearing in that awful profile pic… and just what was she thinking with that hairstyle! Or how Johnny’s new business that he just posted about isn’t all it’s cracked up to be (or so they heard) even though they have no idea what it is that Johnny even does for a living. They’ll post (and tag) someone in a photo from a casino night knowing that the person in the picture told their significant other they were going camping for the weekend. They set down the powder keg, light the fuse, then sit back and enjoy the fireworks show of their own creation. I mean seriously, you’d never guess these were grown-ups.
Of course not everyone is stirring up trouble on Facebook. You have the do-gooder clique as well. In high school these would be the people who would come by your lunch table asking you to sign up for a car wash on Saturday morning to raise money for the library restoration or volunteer to clean up the cigarette butts and broken bottles under the football bleachers or help out at the animal shelter… future great advocates. And the news they now spread on Facebook is commendable.
But like with everything, some took it too far for their own personal reasons… the over the top go-getters. These were the people who loved organizing completely unnecessary study groups at their house and were members of every single school committee possible…mostly because they enjoyed telling others what to do. Facebook has their own version of this crowd as well and it’s quite transparent that they just want to get attention and prove that they’re better human beings than the rest of us. OK, fine, you’re better than me at life, alright? Now will you leave me alone?
Good for you. All of you. You bullies, you pot stirrers, you over the top go-getters. You all make things more interesting for our Facebook feeds. But let’s remember that by and large most of us on Facebook are just like most of us were in high school. We’re just trying to get by, man. Leave me alone and let me eat lunch with my friends in peace. In Facebook speak: let me just read a couple posts, see who’s pregnant, post some news, write a couple of messages, and get the hell out of there. Just minding my business, folks. That’s all I want. Is that too much to ask?
Musings from a Tangled Mind 
Seeing some of the same old douche bags on facebook, makes me so happy that I was a misfit back then, and still am! Great observations!
Thanks! I kind of feel the same way…I didn’t really fit into a clique in school and I certainly don’t now. But it’s better to not be a cookie-cutter character anyway I think.
*knuckle bump* Totally agree, lol
This has got to be one of my favorites………
Thanks!!
Reblogged this on The Daily Beat News Blog and commented:
Great post from MusingsfromaTangledMind about the cliqueness of social media sites!
Thanks for reading and re-blogging!
This hits it right out of the ballpark. I work in such a hostile and toxic workplace and sadly all grown adults. The cliques and gossip continue and it almost gets to the point of lynching and outcasting someone. Sad.
You’re right, it is sad…I mean at some point we were all supposed to grow up but some of us just didn’t get the memo I guess.
While I never had a school education like that – having gone to a young ladies’ convent school ! – I’m still able to recognize the types and see why you quote ’em. Nice piece of writing ! 🙂
Thanks — I appreciate you taking the time to read my post! I can imagine that convent school is very, very different from public education.
When FB gets me irritated, i announce “I’m taking a technology break…see you on the other side”. Many people are nice on FB and I don’t accept random friendships but sometimes it’s exactly like high school. lol Loved this.
I try very hard to keep my personal page personal, but as I’ve expanded so has my newsfeed and that’s where most of this drama plays out. I have a lot of deja vu moments while going through my newsfeed. LOL
I understand. At first, people starting sending me friend requests on FB from WP. But I can’t deal with too many streams of conversations. It makes me dizzy.
I try to ignore the jerks now…on both feeds lol.
I don’t blame you at all!
Chuckling here… So true!
Thanks!
Insightful exposure of how little we actually move on from those learned behaviors in the jungle of the playground
Thank you for reading! It is a shame how often we maintain behaviors that aren’t really worthwhile. Cliques were not really good things in high school and in adulthood, they’re even worse.
Agree, like some unpleasant vapor they have a capacity to follow us through our lives
Great article, too funny and too true!
Thank you for reading!! I’m glad you enjoyed it!
This is exactly how I feel about Facebook! People absolutely use it for odd, bullying and the wrong reasons. It is also amazing to me how people think your Facebook represents you as entirely as you are, which for me is not true at all. Although sometimes I also think it shows people for exactly who they are, just the side that people wouldn’t normally show in public but feel safe behind a screen.
I agree with you. Some people use Facebook to bully because they’re safe behind their computer screens…the same with those you mention about showing who they really are. And goodness knows they’ll find others who think just like them so they’re usually in packs which makes it worse.
Oh my God! You just said here what I just wrote you on another of your posts. Great minds think alike! Plus on my fb there are all these people from my high school! Mind you I graduated in 1974! These are 60 year olds who are still posting skateboarding photos and hanging out in the same cliques.
I must have been the only one who was really relieved to leave high school!
Facebook is a numbers game, if your numbers are low you are not worth talking too. People are so busy posting, often times rude and perverted stuff, and have no time to answer people nicely. People have become very anti-social, critical of others and quick to attack you verbally with lots of swearing. But still I use facebook, cuz I wanna look cool – victim of peer pressure.