So, Facebook spent some time manipulating things people saw on Facebook to gauge their reactions…

There are far to many random thoughts here to make this post coherent at all. Here we go:

Facebook manipulated post feeds to gauge how people would react… Sounds like another day of reading headlines on CNN or Fox News to me.

Facebook experimented with a site they let people use for free… and people who pay nothing to use the site are mad because they have been manipulated… We complain so readily about things we never pay for, demanding change without putting any capital into the project to make sure the changes happen… And somehow we’re offended… I’m still scratching my head on this one.

On the other hand, for the executives at Facebook to have any indignation toward the NSA, or to be angry at others for using Facebook to “bully” people… well, they’ve lost that “moral” high ground I think.

But for us as users… we need a grip. Not just in regards to Facebook, but in regards to letting small things swing our emotions so readily. We allow headlines to do it. We allow politicians to manipulate their words. We allow false statements to enrage us all the time.

Facebook isn’t the only one manipulating emotions. It happens all around us. Know why? We let it. We don’t read the headline carefully, or read beyond the headline, and we get mad. We read too many stories that bring our spirits down and do nothing to stop the flow of bad news… like, I don’t know… turning off the feed and picking up something that WILL lift up our spirits.

Facebook did the experiment because they could. People are easily manipulated. We too often don’t stop to check facts or dig deeper, or just even allow people to have opposite opinions without calling them “communists” or “fascists” or “fundies” or (insert your favorite insult here).

We don’t want to have respectful conversations. We just want to think what WE want to think… and demand others think exactly like us, or they’re just plain idiots! (It just feels good to be shrill, dog gone it! That felt good!)

We need to breathe. We need to sit back and dwell on what is good, true, noble, beautiful, admirable or praiseworthy. We need to THINK on those things…

And then we all refuse to act rashly, Facebook will realize they can’t do that stuff any more. As will CNN and Fox News. But until then… they’ll keep right on ticking you off.