Event Invitation: National Man Day; RSVP: “May be attending,” click.
“This will make me look less like a jerk,” I confided. I believe many people do what I just did when you have to reply to an invitation on Facebook, knowing very well that you are not able to make it.
No, this is not wrong. I am just trying to gather some insights about this kind of Facebook-effect that may be affecting the way we communicate our intentions in the real world.
My friend, Megan, from our advanced academic writing class brought this issue up Thursday and I thought it would be a good topic to stumble upon.
How many of us really mean “may be attending” when we choose to reply that as our confirmation to an event? How many of us are simply hippies like me?
Many Facebook users will agree with me that replying to such an invitation to events reflect what kind of persona we are. For instance, if someone has replied “attending” to an event but failed to show up, this someone is assumingly going to be seen like a liar or hypocrite.
I begin to see people around me being affected by this Facebook-effect. Many of them began to use the “may be attending” button as a way to escape from being seen as antisocial, even in their real lives!
Many think that it is better to say “I may be there,” than saying “I will not be there.”
Why so? I mean, there is no harm being true to your interest or obligations. If so happen that you can’t make it to an event or activity, I don’t think the other party is going to kill you.
Even if you are not interested in joining a party planned by your ex-girlfriend, simply saying “no” is A-OK.
In fact, I believe stating “may be attending” to an event doesn’t make you any honorable either. What kind of characters you are if you say one thing and practice another?
Hence, collar up, and just be frank with your responses. Be true to your friends. It is totally understandable that everyone has their agendas and may not be able to attend to all invitations.
I personally believe that the way social media works should never interfere with the way we live our real lives. We should not bring in the ways we communicate on social networks to our daily routines. Or else, sooner or later our knack to talk truthfully with one another will become distorted.
Fellow friends, let’s do away this contagious behavior of “may be-ing” as soon as possible so we do not have to deal with such nonsense, masked communications anymore.
Event Invitation: National Man Day; RSVP: “Not attending,” click.
