Dear Facebook,
I owe you a lot.
You have helped me to reconnect with old friends.
You have allowed my relatives who live both near and far to very easily see how and what my kids are doing.
You have given my blog tons of exposure and have helped me to develop a pretty decent following.
You have made me laugh and cry and think, and you have made me aware of things that otherwise, I might have never known about.
You sure have helped to raise a ton of money for ALS, and you have helped me to raise a decent amount of money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.
And so, for all of those reasons, I am grateful.
But recently Facebook,
recently,
you are pissing me off.
Not too long ago you demanded that I remove a picture of my two-year-old daughter because she was shirtless, and that apparently violates your rules regarding pornography.
I get it. I do.
Better to be safe than sorry.
But the other day I saw a picture in my newsfeed.
I didn’t click on a link to open it.
I didn’t seek it out.
It just appeared, and it was so disturbing to me, and I can’t get the image out of my head.
It was a picture of a terrorist standing behind a row of severed human heads.
You can’t unsee that stuff.
Neither can your children if they happen to be standing behind you because you want to show them an ice bucket challenge video of one of their friends.
A couple months ago I saw a video of someone being killed while scrolling through my news feed.
I have been trying, unsuccessfully, to unsee that, too.
I know you are free.
I know I don’t pay to use your services.
But I am a customer.
And I am asking you to impose some stricter standards with regard to allowing extremely violent and graphic photographs and videos to be posted on your site.
You have built yourself into one of the most powerful forms of media in the world.
You have a responsibility.
And just as you appear to take that responsibility rather seriously when it comes to toddlers in pull-ups,
I hope you will reconsider and do the same with respect to psychopaths, murderers and terrorists.
Respectfully Yours,
Susie Johnson
Jonie Brooks says
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
Yesterday I saw very very graphic photos of a motorcycle accident. I can’t unsee that.
Ashley says
Well said. I’m glad you took the time to send this message to them because I’m sure there are many that feel the same way and just donn’t take the time to say something. You are a very unique and special individual and I appreciate you. I really hope you realize the impact you and your posts have on so many of us everyday. Sometimes it’s honestly what gets me through the rest of my day. Thank you Susie Johnson:-)