Cry me bourgeois
Cry Crockett Kailyaird
Cry J*[emoticon] a word
An’ dinna cry this a poem.
We build the warld the way we view
I’m nae a ‘great’ that much is true
Sae wha’m I, wi’ sich a cheek
Tae act like I’ve a richt tae speak?
Aye, aye, ignorance is surely bliss
An’ social media’s positive
D’ye ken if ah’m rippin’ the pish
Or tryin’ tae scrieve a poem?
* this wis a smiley face emoticon, bit ah cannae git it tae render as sich in weebly! That's secret code fer ye. So y'lll jist hae tae imagine the emoticon of yer choice
Ah’ve been tryin’ tae mak sense o’ culture an’ the further intil it ah git, the mair ah juist want tae rin awa’ screamin’. Here’s ma wee prologue, reflection piece, which will hae tae dae until ah cun git ma napper in gear tae mak’ some sense o’ the ‘c’ word – be that wee or Capital.
So, I wis doon aon Facebook the ither day, lookin’ tae fin’ some information an’ some freens. Boy wis ah sorely abused. Facebook. Social media? Aye right. It’s a place, as far as I can see, for identity wars. Maist fowk seem tae get their kicks pissin’ up the wa’ while daein’ their best tae assassinate ither fowks identities or belief systems. It’s no a place fer open an’ honest exchange o’ opinions.
Some fowk paddle aroon’ until they fin’ only those ithers wha agree wi’ a’ they say. Then they stay in that wee field, grazing till they’re fat on the hierarchy of sycophancy.
Ither fowk delight in findin’ places tae hae a rammy, tae gie a kickin’ tae onywan wha’s no in their ‘friendship groupie’ or wha may seem tae huv anither point o’ view.
Fer me that’s no the definition o’ social. An’ it’s naethin’ tae dae wi’ friendship. It simply gangs tae show how low we’ve a’ got. Ah try tae be positive. Ah wanted FB tae be mair like a virtual ‘Cheers’ no a virtual ‘Grand Identity Assassination Central’. (for those wi’ no autos tae nick).
It seems tae me the fowk wha dae best oan social media are those wi’ robust social identities. Being yoursel’ is the worst thing tae be oan FB. Aye, buddies, that’s the rub.
Personal identity is under attack from every front. An social media is at the vanguard. Ye’re seen as some kin’ o numpty if ye attempt tae be yersel’ on the ‘platform.’ The advice is surely Mind the gap atween who ye are an’ who ye want tae be, which is (so we are told) realised in wha ithers see us.
Ah dinna think that’s whit Burns meant when he thocht it wid be a gift tae be able ‘tae see oursel’s as ithers see us.’ Ah took that tae mean that we’d a’ be better aff if we could try an’ unnerstan’ things fae the opposite perspective. As a champion o’ the notion o’ community values. Mebbe’s ahm wrang – ahm sure there’s plenty o’ fowk oot there on FB what will pit me richt oan that score.
An’ the biggest joke o’ it a’ is this. While we a’ waste oor time oan the place, tryin’ tae mould oor personal identity intil a social identity which suits the aspirational group we want tae be associated wi’, an tell oorsel’s this is friendship, we are really all just creating data identities which are being mined and harvested and abused and manipulated by algorithms an’ those behind them wha hae nae interest in us as individuals or even as humans wi’ herts an’ souls, but simply aim tae suck us dry and bleed oor banes an’ sell us a version o’ a world in which they laugh all the way to the bank an’ we keep oan knocking oor pan’s oot believin’ we’re free. The best damned democracy money can buy eh? An the ultimate irony is, we have some power tae try and subvert their plans, bit dae we? Dae we nut. We play straight intil their hon’s. Oh boy dae we love Big Brither!
Jenny Geddes