#FakeCaring

Aight. Y'all made me do it. I can't take it anymore. I can't take people fake caring about issues anymore.

Fake caring is when you tweet or share a tidbit of news and consider yourself an activist for your part in the upcoming revolution.

Lemme just break it down for you:

• Tweeting about something doesn't raise your social consciousness. 
• Making a hashtag doesn't mean you are making a change. 
• Sharing an article on your Facebook wall doesn't mean you are an intellectual.

In this culture of social media, 24-hour scrolling news, and 'just read the headline not the article' philosophers, people have gotten lazy. People aren't actually going out and fighting for a cause, they are sitting on their couch and retweeting their support. 

What if Malcolm X didn't fight for the people, he just tweeted #byanymeansnecessary? What if Huey P. Newton didn't found the Black Panther Party but just retweeted an article about poor Black kids in Oakland? What if instead of voting drives during Freedom Summer, everyone just wore a T-shirt saying Vote or Die? None of those would have been effective. 

I understand the power of social media as evidenced by the uprisings in Egypt & Ukraine. But that wouldn't have worked in the good ol USA; in between the tweets about revolution would have been social commentary about the latest Real Housewives Reunion brawl. 

I'm not saying you shouldn't care about issues. Racism is prevalent; social injustices exist everywhere; the cycle of poverty still grips families for generations.  And the list goes on. But stop TWEETING about it and get off your ass and DO something. 

#therevolutionwillnotbehashtagged

Humble Brag

Humble Brag

adjective

1. When you, usually conciously, try to get away with bragging about yourself by couching it in a phony show of humility.

2. A form of self-promotion where the promoter brags about himself in the context of a humble statement.

I've been noticing a lot of this on social media lately.  You know, when someone boasts an achievement while couching it in a statement to show their humility.  For example, "On my date with the doctor last night, he whisked me to St. Tropez...but I drank wine coolers in the private jet cuz I''m just a regular girl." Woof!  Yall know you have at least one friend who can't seem to go a day without a humble brag.  (And yes, these are the same people who contribute to Social Media Envy.)  Lemme drop some knowledge on you: a truly humble person doesn't need to brag about their accomplishments on Facebook, Twitter, or anywhere else.  Let your achievements speak for themselves...The Lord will take care of the rest.     

Envy

Do you ever find yourself having social media envy? You look at Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter and see your friends living these fabulous lives & for a moment you get jealous. You see your married friends popping out beautiful babies; your single friends being fabulous in exotic locations and for a second you're envious. But you have to remember, people are only putting their best foot forward on social media. Nobody puts their fight with their husband or 4 hour naps on social media. 

I've found myself on both sides of Social Media Envy. Yes, I live a fabulous life...but not as much as y'all think. Most days, I just live a quiet life in my Harlem brownstone trying to get my DVR to 0%. Let y'all tell it, I'm out every night. 

Just remember, the grass isn't always greener on the other side.  After all, The Lord dedicated a whole commandment to this. (Exodus 20:17)

Hidden

If you've noticed that I haven't liked your photo or commented on your status in a while, there's a reason: you've been hidden from my timeline...and essentially my life. The good news is, I like you enough not to defriend you, the bad news is you annoy me to the point of not wanting to 'see' you daily on social media.

Actually, it's your fault. You probably share every funny picture you see on the Internet, post pictures of every meal, and commentate every reality TV show you watch. We all know social media is about connecting with people on a different level and in a different space, but you're using it wrong. Trust me, I'm speaking for your 765 Facebook friends when I tell you STOP, you're annoying!

It's all about meme meme meme

Unless you've been missing from social networks for the last few months, you've been inundated on FaceBook, Twitter, and Instagram with memes.  What is a meme you say?  Well, a meme is defined as an image or video that is passed electronically from one internet user to another.  My definition of a meme is a picture with annoying text written over it (see above).  Are some of them funny? Yeah.  But are they mostly annoying?  Hell yeah.  The most annoying thing about memes is they are mass-produced and copied over and over and over again.  What is the purpose of being on social networks if all you're going to do is reproduce other people's ideas?

Me, I like to be an original.  My own thoughts, my own ideas...other people's recipes.  Hell, that's why I started this blog.  The internet has become our virtual footprint.  I, for one, want my footprint to be my original work.

Twidda taught me

*Twidda is trademarked by me (and a few others) and refers to Black Twitter.  Black Twitter is where things go to die.

I joined twitter (@AllEyesOnDiv) in June of this year after years of fighting it.  I couldn't comprehend how people would need to update their lives constantly or why anyone would even care.  Little did I know, Twitter was the best thing to happen to me.  Twitter was the place for all my random thoughts and my new #1 news & comedy source.  And then I stumbled upon Twidda, Twitter's step-brother's cousins baby's moms....and that's when things got interesting.  Here are a few things I discovered on Twidda.

1. Women have low self-esteem.  I know, that's not new.  But self-esteem is at an all time low on Twidda.  If you wake up one morning & decide to take a picture of yourself butt naked and put it up on the WORLD WIDE WEB, you probably have low self-esteem.

2. Men are shallow visual creatures.  Do you think guys follow girls on Twidda because their tweets are funny, witty, inspiring, and thought-provoking?? Uhhh, nah.  Guys follow girls in the hopes that those girls will eventually get butt naked.  Noticing a trend here?

3. Some stereotypes are RIGHT.  Case in point, apparently Michael Jordan released his 5782467th shoe.  Do you know what people were doin yesterday?? Standing in line for those shoes.  Do you know what happened with the payroll tax yesterday?? Didn't think so.

All in all, I love Twitter; I love Black people.  But sometimes, we gotta do better.

What are your favorite/most hilarious moments on Twidda??