Today is the second anniversary of my mother‘s death.
It’s not a date that’s etched in my memory. I had to go back and look at a calendar of May 2022 because I know it happened on a Monday; and then I had to crosscheck that with old WhatsApp messages to friends.
Is it weird that I’m not going to post about it on social media? (apart from here of course) Is it weird that I’m not planning to post a picture of me and my mum, and write about fond memories of things we did together and how much I miss her. Does that make me weird?
There’s a local business I follow on social media because I’m interested in their services and I like to be kept apprised of what they offer.
In the past few years, the owner of this business lost both her mother and her father. I know this not because I’m her friend but because she has talked about this extensively about her grief and loss in social media posts from her business account.
Question: is it appropriate to share this kind of information in a business post from a business account?
I have several friends who post regularly on social media for their wedding anniversary, their spouse’s birthday, their children’s birthday, their parents’ birthdays, their wedding anniversary, Mother’s Day and Father’s Day. These posts go to great length to extol the virtues of this other person. “Best husband”, “wonderful and loving mother”, “amazing daughter”.
What I find weird is that sometimes the subject of these posts isn’t using this particular social media so they are not going to see these comments and expressions of love.
If you’re writing and publishing a social media post about how important someone is to you, and how you celebrate the wonder of them, but the other person can’t read what you’ve written, then who are you writing for?
Do you have to get your phone out and show it to them, and say “Look at what I wrote about you honey. Look how much I told the world I love you.”
To me this feels performative.
How do you feel about these public expressions of emotion? When you read them, do you get a warm fuzzy feeling or a cold prickly one?
Tales from Tobhamhor 