About a year ago, I made a post on Facebook that was fairly controversial among my friends:
11/16/11 "Among the list of things I hate: listening to people constantly complain about their pregnancy. Sit down, shut up and count your blessings. I'd gladly take your place. I'm sure it's not all roses, but it certainly has to be worth it in the end."
I made the post in reference to a few select girls who posted, quite literally, on a daily basis about what was wrong with their pregnancy. Acid reflux, constipation, dry skin, stretch marks...Frankly, all things that, even as a woman who's never been pregnant, I can safely say I understand are part of pregnancy.
Many of my friends misinterpreted this post, and got very defensive about it (either on the thread or in private messages). They thought that I was saying Facebook should not be used to talk about your baby, and insisted that I was just jealous because I wasn't pregnant. Truth be told, I was jealous, but even if I had not been, and had gotten pregnant, Facebook is not the place to complain about how awful you feel every day.
As an "expectant mother" myself now, I can truly say that I am no longer jealous of pregnant chicks. I have found my path to motherhood, and gratefully get to miss acid reflux/stretch marks/dry skin/constipation/throwing up etc. But...
I still don't want to hear your dirty details every day.
If you need a suggestion about how to handle your situation (example: gosh, I can't eat anything without getting heartburn! What worked for you?) that's fine. If you plan to regale us with the latest trip to the bathroom (5 times a day) and all that ensued, or complain (once again) about how tired you are and how nothing got done today, I beg you to reconsider. No matter how much your friends love you, it really gets annoying.
Rant over!
-Jenn
LOL! When you write 'Facebook is not the place to complain about...' I can't help wondering what Facebook is the place for. We live in a society where people tweet, blog and update Facebook status for everything. A child's first day of school, the tacos you ate for dinner, an iced cookie in the shape of the male anatomy, the dirty details of your last breakup and (apparently) the bathroom habits of pregnant women are all shared daily in various forums. Everyone seems to have a different idea about what is appropriate and what is not.
ReplyDeleteAs a relative newcomer to the world of electronic 'sharing,' I'd love to hear what others think about what/how much is appropriate to share. And are there different standards for Facebook, blogging, tweeting, etc. What do you think?
I feel like facebook is a great way to share life events, some witty comments, recipes, ideas, etc...
ReplyDeleteBut it is not a place to share little details of your life, even if they go along with big moments. For example, great, you're pregnant... Tell us on Facebook, make a couple posts about it, share a few pics of your kid. We don't need to hear about constipation, how bad your farts smell, or how dry your face us getting. Suck it up! Don't want tons of posts complaining about your job or whatever else either. The news feed gets pretty negative with people complaining all the time!!
For those negative people, would you say these things in person, do you really go around and tell your coworkers or boss or babysitter or high school teacher or cousin or fatherinlaw or whoever else you have on Facebook, that you are too constipated? That would be awkward, well that's who you are letting know, lots of people that you aren't even close to. But maybe those people that share on Facebook share too much info in real life!