Despite any hypothetical intention we may have, my friends, one thing is clear: asking for things we want online creates an “Unless You Gon’ Do It” type of situation.
Social media allows us to advertise our desires behind the safety of a computer screen. Personally, it is comforting to share bits and pieces of myself with other people. There is no pressure to fulfill a request when the person asking is not staring you in the face. That’s why, when people do give via sites like IndieGoGo, Kickstarter, or GoFundMe, or, in my case, Facebook, I’m yet surprised at the kindness of strangers touched only by media. I can reasonably expect people to laugh and keep it scrolling.
But what does it mean that we broadcast what we want? Do we really, as I protested, expect no one to answer our implicit or explicit calls? This, too, is complicated. In a word, no; it’s not usual that people take me up on my outlandish requests to bring me Chic Fil A for breakfast at 6 AM. I’m talking out the side of my mouth, out of the depths of my hunger. Because those chicken sandwiches do me so right in the morning…
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dara t. mathis 