Facebook Gah!

[Audrey Quest]

I know that many kids are loathe to friend their parents or other adults because they sometimes take too seriously a status update or otherwise comment in a serious way on something that is meant not to be serious.
 
Now, let me preface this by saying that never in all my facebooking have I ever put cryptic messages about my state of mind.  I have blue periods but the last thing I want is attention through Facebook for that.  Occasionally, I will put something in a status update about having a cold but that's about it.  And that can backfire too--my DH did that and his much older cousin shared it as gossip with his mom who called him to scold him for not taking enough Vitamin C.  (There's a reason he never tells his parents when he has a cold...)
 
Anyway, sometimes I post lyrics to songs that I am listening to that seem pertinent to me at the time.

This was my posting:
There nothing better than a car A hundred miles
per hour in the dark I close my eyes and take my hands off the
wheel No better way to find out who you are

Facebook does not allow paragraph breaks so it doesn't look as poetic as it would with them.

With them, it would look like this, although you can kind of see because there are capital letters where there shouldn't be:
There nothing better than a car
A hundred miles per hour in the dark
I close my eyes and take my hands off the wheel
No better way to find out who you are
 
So, today a friend of mine comments on it "Yikes!  Call me!"
 
I post: Why, what's going on?
 
She replies:
well, if you're wanting to go 100mph in the dark and take your hands off the wheel to find out who you are, it sounds as if you already know that you are ready to fly into the arms of death

And I say:  Or maybe I'm just listening to <favorite band>
 
And then, she replies: OK, sounds reasonable

Here's the thing.  If you really thought one of your friends was suicidal, wouldn't you put that in a message that only they could see?  I would.  For one thing, it would save me the embarrassment of overreacting to what are just song lyrics.  And if there really was something wrong, then my friend could have the opportunity to open up in private if something really was wrong.
 
For the record, the guys who wrote the song grew up near desert roads where you literally could go 100 mph in the dark and take your hands off the wheel to scare yourself silly and still live to tell about it.
 
Sooooo, should people not take things so seriously or am I just too old to use Facebook with my too old friends? 

[DottyG]

A little OT to what you're asking but FB allows paragraph breaks.  I use them all the time in my Status.

[Aggiesque]

LOL, I think she was just being dense that time.

I have several friends who post lyrics describing their state or mind/how they are feeling. Sometimes I don't realize they are lyrics until I'm halfway through, or it takes a min, but I think most people will recognize that it's a song or poem, even if they don't know it specifically.

I'd just let it go.

[Audrey Quest]

A little OT to what you're asking but FB allows paragraph breaks.  I use them all the time in my Status.

Well, I put them there but they didn't come out with them.  Is there something special that you do?

[DottyG]

Just return twice like I do in any other post (like here).

Like that (not that you could see me do that, but I just returned twice there!)

[Audrey Quest]

LOL, I think she was just being dense that time.

I have several friends who post lyrics describing their state or mind/how they are feeling. Sometimes I don't realize they are lyrics until I'm halfway through, or it takes a min, but I think most people will recognize that it's a song or poem, even if they don't know it specifically.

I'd just let it go.

I'm not looking to "do" anything about it really.  I guess I just understand how the kids feel when they friend adults and the adults get all adultish on them!

[Audrey Quest]

Just return twice like I do in any other post (like here).

Like that (not that you could see me do that, but I just returned twice there!)

Nope!  Doesn't work for me!

[Shores]

I think that people who decide to post status messages like this need to have the foresight to put ("mary jane" by Tom Petty) or something similar at the end. Because 90% of the time, it DOES look like words from the actual person and that can lead to false assumptions. If you're posting suicidal messages, then I don't think family and friends are rude for reacting to them. Unless you know that specific song, you have no way of knowing that the person is just posting a fake and cryptic status. I see this all the time and it really is annoying as all get out. Why not just be upfront about the fact that it's just song lyrics?

[DottyG]

That's really strange!  I've been putting paragraph breaks in mine since I started on FB.  And, other people I see do, too.

[KitKat]

Here's the thing.  If you really thought one of your friends was suicidal, wouldn't you put that in a message that only they could see?  I would.  For one thing, it would save me the embarrassment of overreacting to what are just song lyrics.  And if there really was something wrong, then my friend could have the opportunity to open up in private if something really was wrong.
 

No.  I would call them right away, not wait for them to see my message and hope they contacted me.  When you called her on it she must have realized that her comment was inappropriate and telling you she was worried about you was her defense mechanism.  If this was a one time thing I wouldn't make too much of it though.

[kingsrings]

Whenever I put song lyrics, movie quotes, or play quotes for my FB status, I always use quotation marks around them. Then it's pretty obvious that you are indeed quoting something and not speaking about yourself.

[Shoo]

Sooooo, should people not take things so seriously or am I just too old to use Facebook with my too old friends? 

Yes!  and  No!

[MayHug]

My niece uses song lyrics as her status constantly. As such I've been taken back a couple of times and once even sent her a private message asking if everything is ok! Now, she refers to the artist or uses .... at the end to indicate theres more. But I would not have left a public response.

[Audrey Quest]

My niece uses song lyrics as her status constantly. As such I've been taken back a couple of times and once even sent her a private message asking if everything is ok! Now, she refers to the artist or uses .... at the end to indicate theres more. But I would not have left a public response.

Sometimes I do a google search if one of my kids or kids' friends says something really weird--its usually lyrics!

[TychaBrahe]

A little OT to what you're asking but FB allows paragraph breaks.  I use them all the time in my Status.

It does in the comments, but I've never been able to get it to work in the statuses.