Attention whores who take advantage of horrible events (VT -related)

[Mondogarage]

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AZK,

Its so funny because before I got banned in other VT thread, I was going to make a poll that said "What should we do to honor our VT brothers and sisters?" and provide a list of options. I was really sad I didnt get that one off in time.

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Here's an option of AZK -- go to a candlelight vigil and stand next to the mother and siblings of one of the shooting victims, like my wife did last night, and see if you're still capable of thinking everyone else's shows of support are fake.

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As I'm sure everyone in the facebook groups in question have done.

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Nice of you to simply assume that no one in such a facebook group has done so. You can't say they haven't, any more than I can't say they have. But I'm pretty certain you haven't, since your energy is far more directed at insulting Facebook group users.

At any rate, there's probably a lot more vigils going on around DC than, say, some random small college town in Nebraska, given the high density of VT families.

[Badger]

Wow, very interesting and polarized thread. I am a very empathetic/sympathetic person, but I have a hard time extending that past people I know.

I dedicate a significant amount of my time and resources to humanitarian efforts and fund raising for charities, for things both close to home and in distant third world countries I may never see. As a child I would worry myself at night with things like how many children were starving in the world, or how many animals were being killed in shelters. What I'm getting it is I'm a pretty sensitive guy when it comes to a lot of things.

However, something like the VT massacre doesn't faze me beyond the shock factor. 9/11 didn't really mean anything to me either. It makes me feel rather cold and detached. At times I share AZK's sentiments, and at other times I realize some of these "attention whores" just react differently than I do. I remember girls in the dorms crying on 9/11 because their dad was on a flight from LA to Seattle, or people who didn't even know anyone in NYC balling. So I think some of these people are just being douchey, and some just try to find any way they can to empathize. I just try to ignore it and not sort them out. I'll stick to concerning myself to people I know, whether it be someone I know who had family in one of the classrooms that got shot up, or someone who is struggling with loss or grief from the myriad of life's other problems.

It's a weird feeling, being sympathetic to so many things, but not caring about a tragedy like this that so many people get worked up about.

[xxThe_Lebowskixx]

mond,

do you really think AZK is talking about people who were related to or friends with the victims? zzzzz

[Mondogarage]

No, I don't think so -- I just think AZK spends way too much time trolling Facebook and doesn't like seeing other people expressing support for something. And I'm offering up a way for AZK to put himself in touch with those who could help him gain empathy.

A lot of people showing up at those vigils don't actually have any friends or relatives who were shot at VT. Is their support somehow fake because they don't have a true individual connection to the shootings?

Some go to vigils, some enter Facebook profiles, why should someone have contempt for one group, and empathy for the other, especially when they're not even that bothered by the shootings in the first place?

AZK and others could learn from Badger's post, especially the part about "concerning myself to people I know". Why get yourself worked up about someone's Facebook page -- it's no more concern of yours than is the fact that 33 complete strangers to you got shot to death.

[Hopey]

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But I'm pretty certain you haven't, since your energy is far more directed at insulting Facebook group users.


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I can assure you that it takes me very little energy to insult Facebook group users. It's practically effortless.

[onthebutton]

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But I'm pretty certain you haven't, since your energy is far more directed at insulting Facebook group users.


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I can assure you that it takes me very little energy to insult Facebook group users. It's practically effortless.

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Kind of like joining a Facebook group to show how much you care.

[By-Tor]

people that spend a vast majority of their time online typically have little live social interaction.

facebook and other outlets are their form of a 'watercooler'

by posting their 'condolences', genuine or not, allows them to feel connected to a large community. something they typically do not get IRL.

i see little or no harm in this. everyone expresses themselves differently.

[adsman]

I completely agree with AZK, they're attention whores. They're the sort of people who call you up and the first words out of their mouths are; "Isn't it terrible!?" Yeah, it's terrible that I have to listen to you.
I'll go one further and say that I'll lump everyone into the same bunch who even has a facebook page. You can throw them in with people who have the fish symbol on their car, or girls who have glow-in-the-dark stars on their bedroom ceiling. This has nothing to do with the topic at hand but they get on my nerves as well.

[tuq]

I'm proud to say I'm not even sure what a Facebook page looks like. Never seen one. Damn I'm old. All I can gather is that it's some newfangled web thing and another outlet for which people can show that they suck.

[maddog2030]

AZK,

I'm a recent VT grad and was irked by the same thing. I'd say even some of my VT alum friends (who had no relationship with any victims) were taking it a little too far.