discussion post on Poetry

  While I enjoyed a few of the sonnets, I think my favorite was “The Facebook Sonnet.” Alexie’s portrayal of the potential harm of Facebook is basically spot on with much of the material I’ve read in my psychology classes. Facebook does indeed, as, Alexie wrote, “Let’s undervalue and unmend / The present,” (“The Facebook Sonnet”, ll. 4-5). While it wasn’t Alexie’s main criticism of Facebook in this sonnet, I think it speaks to me because I know the damage it can cause. In fact, there is a whole line of treatment clinical psychologists use called Mindfulness Based Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (MBCBT). The whole point of MBCBT is to be mindful of the present, experience your emotions and life as they happen, and learn that negative feelings and times will pass. Facebook encourages people to interact in ways that, frankly, don’t matter.

            As I said, Alexie had a much bigger criticism of Facebook. One I tend to agree with. I’m not much of a social media user if that wasn’t already clear. People use Facebook to assuage feelings of loneliness. It fails spectacularly at making people not feel alone. Alexie wrote, “Let fame / And shame intertwine. Let one’s search / For God become public domain. / Let church.com become our church. / Let’s sign up, sign in, and confess / Here at the altar of loneliness,” (“The Facebook Sonnet”, ll. 9-14). Facebook has the opposite effect. People become lonelier and more depressed while using it, and it is often a breeding ground for amazingly asinine ideas. In the age of social media, everyone is lonely and wants to be heard, but not every idea has merit.