Who are your REAL friends?
Are you a social media bigot? Years ago, I remember watching a public service announcement on TV. A worried little boy was talking to his grandfather. The conversation went something like this:
Boy: “Grandpa, Billy said I was prejudiced.”
Grandpa: “Who’s Billy?”
Boy: “Billy is my Jewish friend.”
Grandpa: “Billy’s right. you ARE prejudiced.”
Boy: “Why?”
Grandpa: “Because you think of him as “Jewish” before you think of him as a “friend.”
The PSA closed — as they almost always do — with a calm, authoritative voice reminding us to fight racism and bigotry, one conversation at a time. And of course, the de rigueur little PSA musical tail…
So, it’s with a heavy heart that I must admit that I’m a social media bigot.
You see, I’ve been calling folks “My Twitter Friend” or “My FaceBook Friend”.
Like they’re not my real friends. Like we haven’t had adventures together, or bonded over ideas, or shared stories.
Like they’re not my real friends at all. As if connecting over similar interests and sharing multi-layered conversations aren’t enough to make someone a REAL friend. Like my friends are just electrodes or robots or something.
I’ve had some pretty amazing, meaningful conversations and collaborations — with people I have never met in person.
And I’ve had some pretty superficial exchanges with folks I’ve known for years.
Who are your REAL friends?
Related Posts:
If you enjoyed this post, please consider to leave a comment or subscribe to the feed and get future articles delivered to your feed reader.
Comments
I am new to all this social media stuff. I love it but I am already a social media bigot. I commonly call my friends on facebook “my facebook friends”. Many times leaving my other friends in the room with blank faces because they don’t even know what facebook is yet. Some of my facebook friends are my best friends but now instead of being best friends they are facebookers. Something to think about.
Aw, Crap.
One of my imaginary friends just told me that the title of my post is bigoted.
He says I’m a Reality bigot. Because I think of some of my friends as “Real” before I think of them as friends….
Damn! Now my imaginary friend is screaming at me because I think of him as “imaginary” before I think of him as a friend.
This prejudice thing is vicious. How can I make these layers of bigotry a thing of the past?
How do we stand any chance of fighting bigotry when the layers go so deep?
Perhaps we should form a support group for unintentional bigots. I’m also contemplating starting a support group for habitual elipse abusers…
Lord, I’m a bigot. I always refer to my best friend Larry to people who don’t know him as “my gay friend Larry.” I think in a way it’s not so much to define him as gay but to let people know that as a married woman, it’s okay for him to come over, have sleep overs, paint my toenails and giggle together about cute guys in movies. He and I used to be famous for drinking too much wine and then frosting each other’s hair. If he were straight, people would wonder why we spent so much time together. So I think I subconsciously insert the “gay” to let everyone know the relationship isn’t anything that threatens my marriage. Anyway, it sounds like I’m a PSA waiting to happen. Mea Culpa.
For what its worth, I haven’t referred to you as my internet friend. I just told my husband I met a new friend and fellow writer.