2016 Mar 28
by Sanjuli Gunatillake Ekanayake
Now, in this age of connectivity, a lot of us have access to social media. Be it Snapchat or Twitter or Instagram or Facebook, most of us have accounts and profiles, and will browse through these accounts and profiles several times a day. There are many benefits of course, for example; for Pope Francis who recently joined Instagram, it’s one way to spread his message of love and peace. For entrepreneurial start-ups, it’s one method of promoting their brand image.
But we’ve found that there are many people around the world who share certain traits, and of these different strata, a certain percentage live in Sri Lanka. This article has picked out ten of the most common types on social media.
- The “Ane Mata Baha”
We all know of that friend or that friend of a friend who frequently posts a picture or a status hinting about all the problems they have. Don’t get me wrong, it’s important to talk about your issues. But putting it up as a cryptic status on Facebook, or Tweeting about your parents yelling at you to clean your room, or about the injustice of the world, or about how “love is just a shout out in to the void!” (like if you got that reference) where the people who know you won’t take you seriously, and where the people who don’t know you won’t either… is just attention-seeking and ego-centric. Really. If you have problems, talk them out with the people who love you and can help you, not with your entire friend list who will most probably just ignore it and move on.
- The Frapist and The Victim
“So-and-so is the love of my life!” “I eat hamsters for breakfast.” “I’m going to marry my dog! Wedding is next Friday! BYOB!” (That one is rather plausible actually…) “I like to pull my hair and twirl it around my tongue.”
Generally, one is very aware as to who had posted random bull excrement on one’s wall using one’s own profile, but that doesn’t stop this person from doing it over and over again. Considering how long it’s gone on for, however, the hilarity of this modern-day practical joke has subsided, and is now bordering on annoying, not only for the victim, but for the people who find these statuses on their newsfeed. You know who you are. Please stop.
- The “Naha ane, meya mage nangi/aiya wage!”
Yeah. Okay. I admit, every few pairs of friends are just friends. But let’s face it, most of the time; either one or both of these “friends” have feelings for each other (OR MIGHT EVEN BE ACTUALLY DATING) and post pictures together… and adamantly refuse to acknowledge their feelings. It’s very obvious to everyone else, you guys. Seriously. Have The Talk. Everyone thinks you two would make a great couple because honestly with all of these pictures, nobody can imagine you two as not-a-couple; so spare us, stop it with the “awww, my best friend this” and “ane mage sudu nangi that” and suit up, because if you don’t, it just comes across as attention-seeking and nobody likes a self-centered person.
4. The “I’m here with everyone”
So I’m definitely guilty of this. I’ve done this once or twice, when after a nice meal out, I would take a picture with my friends or family and post it as a memory on Facebook, and without fail I will tag each person, and the place we were at. This may come across as very annoying to most people. Even though I did it that way simply as a method of cherishing a memory when I posted it, it does not look that way to other people, because they simply assume that the person posting it is doing it to show off. And like I stated above, nobody likes a self-centered person.
- The “Solla! Maxxa! Meh cricket meme eka balannako machan!”
Though ‘tis the season of cricket memes and trending matches, I’m not referring only to the people on social media (Facebook in particular) who share things about cricket. I’m talking about every person who has ever had an obsession and has felt and acted on the burning desire to share with their friends the wonders of these obsessions. For me, back in 2010, it was K-pop. I couldn’t stop myself from sharing because I thought “Oh wow! This is so cool! I have to share it because there are people in my life who don’t know that this is cool!” Right now, for one of my family members, it’s posting about how perfect Bernie Sanders is for presidency. I have a friend who can’t stop sharing pictures from The Best Of Tumblr page. And it’s amusing. It really is. But sometimes it’s annoying.
However, there’s good news (thank God). If your issue is with people on Facebook, you can unfollow the people who just overshare, without actually removing them from your friends list. If it’s Snapchat, just don’t load their SnapStory. If it’s Instagram however, the only thing you can do is ignore.
But if you really think about it, the whole purpose of social media is networking, it was created because of our need to socialize, to tell people we care about what we have been up to, and to share our interests and opinions. So don’t take things too seriously, and just enjoy your day without harboring any negative feelings.
Cheers, for a big laugh and several head nods.
