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Facebook: A Cautionary Tale

by | Feb 28, 2014 | Articles

Social media getting you down? This cautionary tale by Tulia Thompson is republished from her blog Pasifikan in Aotearoa. 

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The Facebook: a cautionary tale of silliness for writers and artists

and feminists, and everyone who procrastinates and looks at pictures of kitties… img_0253

img_0254I wake up again and it’s hot, and it’s the afternoon,

And the things I was planning today have flown away like gulls.

So I look on Facebook for 5 minutes (hours and hours…)img_0256

AND I GET INTENSELY ANGRY

and pulled into a misogynistic opinion piece…

and write an eloquent & condescending comment (which takes quite a while)

HA HA TAKE THAT AND THAT 

with long complicated wordsimg_0257

and then I Like some stuff…

and then I spend even longer chatting to someone I don’t really like… that much

throwing away my time like bird seed thrown to pigeons.

If I’m such a good feminist how come I still talk to men I don’t like?img_0258

then I find an AMAZING and COMPELLING blog post that describes me PERFECTLY and PROFOUNDLY

BUT IS ENTIRELY MOROSE…img_0261

and then I am exhausted.

and I need some quiet, calming alone-time.

away from the busy faces of face bookimg_0262

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and then I find solace in Earl Grey tea and natural light.

So when you meet the face book

tiptoe

stop and greet her (if you must) but move quickly until she is out of sight

About the author – Tulia Thompson

I am a New Zealand-born Fijian/ Tongan/ Pakeha queer feminist writer, living in Aotearoa. I blog about social issues, my day-to-day experiences, politics, gender, culture, books, activism and writing process.

I recently passed my Phd in Sociology. My doctoral thesis is called “Queer Lives in Fiji”  and is about the marginalization of sexual minorities in Fiji. My academic interests are in post-colonial studies and queer theory, and intersectional feminism. I am currently working on turning thesis chapters into journal articles.

I studied Creative Writing under Witi Ihimaera and Albert Wendt in 1998. My children’s novel (ages 9-12) Josefa and the Vu, was published in 2007. I am currently working on a collection of poetry and short fiction.