Facebook (and perhaps other social media, I don't know) has a popular thing with "Copy/paste this to your status if you" loveliness. They are full of blatant emotional manipulation. If you love your country, love your friends, are caring, are kind, against child rape, like animals or some other obvious subject you will copy/paste the words. Included in them are descriptions of who you are if you do copy/paste: wonderful, smart, loving, patriotic; and if you do not: horrible, selfish, murderer loving, anti-god. Often a percentage will be included - if you do the command you are a blessed wonderful minority, usually 3% of the good guys. (These posts are separate from the signal boosts for help or donations or awareness for true need.)

One of the more recent is how you're a true friend if you copy/paste and it's about supporting and loving your friend (who posted the status that you saw that they c/p'ed). This one has a twist that is showing up more in these memes - a challenge, a dare. In it's zeal to appeal to our childish side it dares you to repost it. Of course if you do then you are part of the best minority, etc. ad nausem. If you do not you are not "my friend" because "only true friends repost".

I do not repost these. Ever. Ok, I've been known to repost the sarcastic "copy/paste this or your pets become zombies, eat your kids, and the earth turns into a whiffle ball" one, but that's for irony. Even if I agree with the cause I refuse to c/p because I am against blatant emotional manipulation and at times I am against subtle emotional manipulation. Bullying someone through attempted character assassination is insane and wrong no matter what the medium. It speaks loudly of who you are if you c/p these things and not in the way the meme says you'll be spoken of. If you allow yourself to be cyber bullied even for a supposedly good cause it's still you allowing someone to bully you.

I refuse. And you know what? If you believe I am not your true friend because I will not repost that crap then you are correct. I am not  your friend nor are you mine because my true friends would not treat me in so vile a manner. So if you're hating on this post, taking it personally, feeling insulted - by all means unfriend, unsubscribe, make a dart board of my photo because you and I do obviously define friendship very differently.

If you copy/paste this nothing good nor bad will happen to you, you will not be more loved nor less loved, more patriotic nor less patriotic. You will in fact be all the things you were before you reposted it - just a little bit older.
 

 

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