Social media sees everything

So, as I'm usually pretty apt to point out in my blog, there's a lot of things of which I am not an expert. In fact, the list is so vast, it is easily summed up as "all of them". I am an expert at nothing, and I know very very very few people who are experts at anything. This is not to say I know dumb people, this is to illustrate that nearly every possible subject is quite vast, and since humanity has, individually, such short life spans, there is very little hope of truly being a full expert in even 1 field before death. So, we collectively narrow the field definition in order to specialize to the attainment of expert status, but by the time an expert is proclaimed, often the scope of their expertise is so limited that it is a niche entirely unuseful to many others. So I mindfully now choose to never be an expert.
Instead, and much more attainable, I'll just share some observations based on my personal experiences.

I'm well aware that my social media feed is biased. Because of who I am, the people I am drawn to as friends, their attributes, and the jobs/experiences/pursuits I have pursued, I am well aware that my viewpoint and intake are not perfectly well rounded, or likely to match anyone else's for all those same reasons for them. Psychological studies find, over and over again, that people interact most with others who are more like their personal perceptions of themselves. The closest friendships, strongest marriages, and best family relationships are built between people who share similar values, morals, experiences, or desires. This doesn't make them the same necessarily, because it heavily depends on how an individual defines themselves. In a world with an infinite number of labels, we each (sometimes unconsciously) choose a few that we cling to more closely, and these labels, and the decision that they are "me", impact very much of life.

There are many things that I am labeled as. I am an oldest sibling, a female, talkative, tall. I have a mental illness, a cat in my home (I'm rather hesitant to say we own her, as I'm fairly convinced it's the other way around), parents and grandparents who are all happily still on their first marriage, a college degree, a love of desserts, a lot of high heels, an addiction to Doctor Who, the ability to read music, a passport from a first-world country, a lot of migraines, and a dislike of oysters on the half shell.

Obviously, I don't usually go about introducing myself by my dislike of oysters, but it's not too difficult to figure out what labels define my mental image of myself. I need only to find the commonalities between the various other people I value having in my life. 

Facebook actually can help with this. Facebook watches me, who I choose to accept as friends, who I actually interact with the most, what they are interested in and interact with, what I actually post, and what ads I click. Facebook uses everything I declare about myself (from demographics to likes and interests) to help outside companies advertise to me, hopefully to the point of sale.

This info, however, is also used to predict labels for each user, and, if we know where to look, you can learn exactly what your behaviors (even those you don't realize you're doing) indicate about who you fundamentally are. All you have to do is go to this part of facebook.

So, my Facebook knows, obviously, that I'm Episcopalian, an Android phone user, friends with people who are newly engaged, can crochet, and prefer Publix for my groceries. It also knows all 6 schools I attended throughout high school and college, and the majors I graduated with. Some things are comical to me, like that my hobbies and activities apparently include things I never thought of as hobbies, such as "dogs, dental floss, Holy Spirit, bumblebee, ultrasound, laughter (which, as I read this list is the really accurate one), intelligence" and, helpfully: "Everything". Thanks facebook. So helpful.

What it did get right is that I'm very much Episcopalian. The large majority of my Facebook friends are (or were when we met) connections I've made through my participation in church, diocesan, or national Episcopal programs and jobs across the many states I've lived in. Also, because I was one myself, there are a LOT of current or former long-term Episcopal missionaries in my list. While I haven't counted to be sure, I'm fairly confident that about 10% or more of my Facebook friends are also ordained.

So why have I bothered to get all the way to this point? Well, in the days before, during, and after the most recent presidential inauguration, I started to notice something interesting, especially when it came to something as "visible" as the Women's marches of January 21st.

While not 100%, because we are religious, not robots, there was an easily seen trend.

Of all my friends and family, the people who are/were long term missionaries, and those who are clergy were vocally participatory in these marches and in the movement it represents.

So, while I know better than to argue correlation versus causation, it makes a great point to me that the individuals who were called by God, and who responded in a big way (often giving up physical and/or financial security to do it) to live a Christ focused and emulating life are choosing to align themselves with this movement.

If those who give their lives to serve God are speaking up against this status quo, well...then I hope I'm spiritually astute enough to learn from them and join them.

Oh...and if you were still wondering about the facebook determined political affiliation? Facebook has determined me to be opposed to major parties, but a "Moderate" in the USA political spectrum. So, I guess I've lived on social media in alignment with what I self label, even though I'm sure that won't be the case for everyone.