Porn, Beef, and #Hashtags – Sunset Observer #32, by Whitney Farmer – Un Pop Culture | @MDWorld

May 18, 2014 Whitney Farmer 1 Comment

@farmer_whitney (Twitter/FLICKR) or farmerwhitney (Instagram)

I was two clicks away from deleting myself and going dark in cyberspace.

But last Friday I met a woman from Nigeria at an oxtail soup backyard party hosted by three generations of a Cambodian family. It’s rare to get a good bowl of oxtail soup here.

The woman from Nigeria had recently translated a new Boko Haram video for a network. What she heard was deeply evil, but it was nothing new to her. She has family who still live there. Each time they go to church, they risk their lives. Boko Haram has been blowing up congregations, kidnapping for the purpose of human trafficking, and trying to make their diabolical imaginations reality for about five years.

Only now are people aware. The difference, according to the translator, is social media. Where everyone else has failed, anyone has succeeded. Anyone wasting time on Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook is potentially no longer wasting time. They can topple governments and call out despots. Hashtags can become battlecries that unite bored school kids and world leaders. I follow both.

Originally I had joined Facebook only because this is the main way that the French Gypsies communicate. They’ll coordinate their migrations and reunions from the hotspots at McDonalds, posting their itineraries before buying one Le Big Mac for the road. If I want to keep in contact with them, Facebook is essential. I added a few more media platforms for various projects during a University of Edinburgh class.

But then one morning…I checked up on recent pic posts before reading the news. How did this happen? What had I become?

When I was at the club, bands would ask to connect on Facebook, Twitter…even MySpace in the beginning. It was for the purpose of marketing themselves and to influence future bookings, but I was very honest with them and said that I had no juice. I processed the contracts that came in and executed them on the night of the show.

So I didn’t need social media until after I got back from France the first time.

In the beginning – in addition to the Gypsies – there was a fun backlog of connections that opened up and refreshed both professional and personal relationships. But things came my way that I neither expected nor wanted.

There was one drummer who was very sweet and played with one of my favorite new bands. He was a good performer, and they had a fan circle that would sometimes pull more than a headliner. Their nights were always good.

Then both he and his girlfriend started to tweet about their sex acts. I know that the purpose was marketing, but that is the worst way to buy groceries. Do you remember when we were in grade school and some things made us say, ”Ewww…”? Where did that reaction go? Not sure, but my ick response was revived and immediate. Hoping that things would work out for all parties, I stopped being a Follower.

The complainers have been more difficult to handle. If someone shares a problem, you think you’re supposed to help. But sometimes the plan is not to get help carrying the burden or finding an answer. Sometimes it is for some sort of celebrity. And ranting about conspiracies is not always meant to raise awareness. It also can be for attention. And finally, you watch some get lost in a habit of complaining.

My momma didn’t raise a quitter. So rather than breakup with Facebook and Twitter permanently, I decided to just take a break for awhile and explore my options. My profiles are out of date and that’s fine with me.

Spring cleaning has led to a “…little bit (more) country (es) and a little (less) rock-n-roll…” in my contact circles. More world leaders, universities, research organizations…less drummers and ex-boyfriends. But I would like to be a more active user than a reactive consumer.

And then I met the Translator. And she tells me that #hashtags work. And we agree that our God is big, but that our world is getting smaller. Social media is neither good nor evil. It is a territory that has potential to be both depending on whose hands are on the keypad.

Of all the choices that can be made, what marvels await us…

BTW: #BringBackOurGirls

Quote of the Blog, from Facebook stats on #BringBackOurGirls: 189,919 likes / 135,735 are talking about this…

NEXT TIME: Kickstart my heart…

Photo of Nigerian protestors, posted on Facebook…no idea other than that what is the source.