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Thoughts and Prayers for the Social Media Martyrs
It can’t be easy in Facebook jail
Several of my friends regularly fall foul of Facebook’s rules, and earn themselves temporary bans from the platform. Usually, I don’t even realise they are absent, but in some cases I certainly know when they have returned.
The keyboard criminals I refer to fanfare their comeback with a host of memes that remind the rest of us just how edgy they are. I’m sure you’ve all seen them, Facebook jail, followed by repeat offender, or hardcore veteran, or proud member or some such claptrap. It’s like there’s a sort of kudos to being kicked off Facebook, a you-know-me-I-can’t-keep-my-mouth-shut outspokenness that earns the perpetrator instant rebel status. There are even Facebook jail badges and t-shirts you can wear to retain that carefully cultivated recalcitrant image when you’re offline.
I cringe when I see this sort of thing. Some of my Facebook friends like to be seen as unruly sorts who have been banished as frequently as the Cooler King in The Great Escape. And they genuinely wallow in their perceived esteem, lapping up the you rebel, you type comments that welcome them back into the fold. It’s all very tedious to me, but harmless.
