Supporting a Cause, Without Supporting a Cause

There's something that's been getting under my skin lately on Facebook, and I'm somewhat uneasy to talk about it, because I'm pretty sure that around 50% of the people that read my blogs take part in it. If you do, just know that I always remain faithful to my "Love the sinner, hate the sin" policy, so although I see this ridiculous fad as retarded, I do not think that you yourself are a retard.

The fad I'm talking about is the Facebook invitation to "Causes." This thing used to be done through e-mail, but now that Facebook is the hotspot of the Information Superhighway (Internet), it seems like the traffic has all been shifted over.

I'm just going to come out and say it. I've ignored every cause invitation I've ever gotten. It's not that I disagre; to the contrary, I'm all for fighting the big abortion movement, or stopping cancer, or feeding the starving kids in Africa. But one thing you have to understand is, joining this cause does not help the cause.

It's a slightly more complex version of those e-mail petitions that get sent around. I remember getting one where two men apparently had killed a kid, and there was some controversy over whether they should get the death sentence. The petition requested that every recipient type in their name and what state they're from, and pass it along to all their acquaintances. If they could get 1,000 votes, the guys would be put to death.

Now, IF the story is true, then I'm sure the guys deserve death. But seriously. An e-mail vote? Who in their right mind could think that this affects anything anywhere in the world? It would be superfluous to point out how easy it is to simply type in hundreds of names and states, without the e-mail even going out. Also, many times those petitions are fakes designed to get your e-mail address, so you can be spammed for the rest of your life.

I'm not trying to generate any conspiracies about the Facebook method of supporting a cause, I just want to point out that in the cynical, "anything goes" world of the internet, a Facebook cause doesn't mean a whole lot to people who expect physical results. You want to support a cause? Go be active in your community. See how you can help real-life people in your immediate neighborhood. Anyone can sit at a desk and click "Accept" on the Cause invitation. It takes a truly passionate supporter to get off their fanny and go do something about it.

And as long as I have your attention, I'd also like to point out how silly and nonsensical it is to get a notification saying, "Food-fight invitation: Billy just threw a handful of grey poupon at you! Will you throw something back?" It takes more time to fill out all the forms and select the food I want to throw than it would for me to just grab some real food and throw it at someone. All these little games we play, to me, just seem like a more boring version of the real thing with more paperwork to fill out.

So there it is. Sorry if I'm a killjoy, but somebody needs to stop this madness. If it bugs you as much as it does me, please join my cause, "Let's put an end to the Cause Invitations." Hopefully it will make a difference.