Hi!
Really hoping I don't annoy anyone with this post (anyone that I'm friends with anyway).
From time to time I'll see on my Facebook timeline messages by one or more of my friends. The message will be something along the lines of..
"If you see this, you're a real friend of mine. If you think of me as a real friend, reply to this post and repost this message on your wall so that I know that I'm a real friend of yours too. Don't just reply to this post because I need to see the message on your wall to prove that you're a real friend."
I just made that one up, I haven't copied anyone elses, I promise. These messages come in all shapes and sizes, from friend ones like the example above, to ones against illnesses or outrages in the world.
I never repost these, but it does worry me slightly that some of my friends might take offence at the fact that I don't. It's probably not the case, but for the sake of clarity I wanted to explain myself.
I personally view these messages in the same light as chain letters. That's the short answer to it. I never forward on chain letters, because I consider it a waste of money (mine) and time (mine and other people) for no benefit. Chain letters which promise well being if you send this letter on to five people - what if you send it but one gets lost in the post? Do I not get my well being because of the vagarity of the postal service (I should say at this point the postal service is generally excellent however).
I certainly believe that there are things in this universe that we don't understand yet. And taking that belief forward, that the power of the mind may well go further than we understand as well. But I don't believe that a chain letter has any such power.
And because I think of these particular Facebook messages in the same light as chain letters, I don't repost them.
Let me stress that I have no issue whatsoever with people putting these messages up in the first place, or with reposting them if they wish to. People are free to do as they wish and I do not think any less of them for doing it. But, if they are disappointed that I haven't reposted it then I hope this blog post explains why I haven't done it - it's not out of apathy (for once), it is actually a conscious decision not to.
If, by chance, one of my friends actually wrote the post on their wall rather than reposting it themselves, then I do acknowledge that is different, but please do accept again that I won't be reposting it on my wall for the reasons above.
And for the fact that my wall is full of junk anyway.
Like blog posts!