Curled up on the lumpy red loveseat, I skim over all the Facebook posts and wait for my friend to scroll down the feed. Three girls sit crisscross on the floor in front of me, huddled in front of the bright computer screen. Our laughter and giggles echo in the small, dark living room. I had waited for this night all week. Looking forward to finally settling down and hanging out with my friends.
“Hey, girls. Don’t stay up to late,” the petite mother walked through the living room in her loose pajama pants and bright pink slippers. She waved goodnight and left the room as quickly as she had entered.
“Goodnight,” we said back in unison.
Our eyes went mechanically back to the computer and our lips, to gossip. I felt like this was going to be a perfect night. A stress-free, fun night with my girls and nothing could ruin it, but then I saw the next post. My thoughts crashed. I looked at the other girls and saw that they hadn’t read it yet.
“Hey, I’m really thirsty. Let’s go get something to drink.” I jumped out of the loveseat and shut the computer as quick as I could. I turned to face them, and realized I was just a little too late. They had seen it. We all looked at each other and then to the small bundle of blankets that held our friend. She had her legs pulled to her chest, and looked as if she was trying to compress herself into an impossibly smaller bundle.
“Don’t look at me like that. I’m fine. It was nothing. Just ignore it,” she said. She tried to look brave and unaffected, but we knew that it was all a front. She always pretends she’s all right.
Social networks are for posting thoughts and keeping up with friends, not for expressing anger or hatred towards others. They aren’t supposed to be used that way. That’s what a diary is for.
Cruel comments and snide posts are scattered across the Internet. If they considered how their posts would affect the reader, would they have still hit send?
We all know how hard it can be to be a teenager in high school. It sucks. Students have enough stress without their peers making them even more insecure. We don’t need to hear about how stupid, ugly or fat we are. Social media is not the way to deal with anger period. Putting it out there for everyone to see doesn’t make things any better. It doesn’t change the way you feel toward that person or the fact that you may or may not have just ruined their reputation.
Society today is dependent on technology and teenagers get on social networks more often then they eat. But the obsession with documenting ones every thought on these sites is a frequent issue that I find annoying. Seeing all the spiteful things said, just on my feed, makes me doubt my generation. I’m sure I am guilty of posting a few agitated statuses, but I really try not to hurt anyone’s feelings. I do know I have never called someone out specifically to pick a fight or dent someone’s ego.
I slide to the floor beside my friend, tears threatening to spill out of her small, brown eyes.
“Just block her or report her post. There’s got to be something we can do to take it down,” I said opening the computer, not only attempting to remove the post from Facebook, but also trying, and failing, to delete the words from our minds.
