Equality FB picture changes

[Cronos]

I did it to show support to my family members and friends across the country. This means a lot to them. This isn't Kony2012 in which no one has a fingerprint on, this hits close to home for them and me...so [expletive] me, right?

I didn't say that everyone who does it does it thoughtlessly.

[TimeForGuinness]

I did it to show support to my family members and friends across the country. This means a lot to them. This isn't Kony2012 in which no one has a fingerprint on, this hits close to home for them and me...so [expletive] me, right?

Did you do anything besides change your picture? Did you post something about why this means something to you, about why you were doing it?

What was pissing me off was people just clicking "set as profile picture" and then moving on to post asinine comments about their commute. If people took the 2 minutes to change their picture and post something, anything, about why they were doing it, they got a pass.

Yeah, I helped them through some really tough times, and I send them notes saying that I'm thinking of them...

[heyzeus]

I did it to show support to my family members and friends across the country. This means a lot to them. This isn't Kony2012 in which no one has a fingerprint on, this hits close to home for them and me...so [expletive] me, right?

Did you do anything besides change your picture? Did you post something about why this means something to you, about why you were doing it?

What was pissing me off was people just clicking "set as profile picture" and then moving on to post asinine comments about their commute. If people took the 2 minutes to change their picture and post something, anything, about why they were doing it, they got a pass.

This.

We don't all have to become civil rights workers. Showing our support for LGBT friends and family is important. But just changing your profile picture, without even saying what it means to you or why you're doing it, is the most minimal sort of effort and statement that can be made. A trivial one, to me, that appears to be rooted in one's own identity (look! I'm supportive!) rather than effort in changing an injustice.

I think it irked me that instead of seeing 100 people writing about what marriage equality means to them, I saw 100 people just change their profile picture, which gives the impression (whether true or not) more of an act of vanity. The Facebook platform allows both forms of expression, but it seemed like only the self-image one was being utilized by most. Not all. Just most.

[TimeForGuinness]

I did it to show support to my family members and friends across the country. This means a lot to them. This isn't Kony2012 in which no one has a fingerprint on, this hits close to home for them and me...so [expletive] me, right?

Did you do anything besides change your picture? Did you post something about why this means something to you, about why you were doing it?

What was pissing me off was people just clicking "set as profile picture" and then moving on to post asinine comments about their commute. If people took the 2 minutes to change their picture and post something, anything, about why they were doing it, they got a pass.

This.

We don't all have to become civil rights advocates. Showing our support for LGBT friends and family is important. But just changing your profile picture, without even saying what it means to you or why you're doing it, is the most minimal sort of effort and statement that can be made. A trivial one, to me, that appears to be rooted in one's own identity (look! I'm supportive!) rather than effort in changing an injustice.

I think it irked me that instead of seeing 100 people writing about what marriage equality means to them, I saw 100 people just change their profile picture, which gives the impression (whether true or not) more of an act of vanity. The Facebook platform allows both forms of expression, but it seemed like only the self-image one was being utilized by most. Not all. Just most.

Most people are there as a bandwagon, I certainly agree...but bandwagons can create impacts.

I don't mind bandwagons in this situation.

[heyzeus]

There are worse bandwagons. It's just a little too Kony 2012 for me.

[TimeForGuinness]

There are worse bandwagons. It's just a little too Kony 2012 for me.

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, no doubt...but I have friends in DC in attendance, so it means a lot to me, and that's my opinion.

[Secret Weapon]

id rather wear a wristband

[ghostrunner]

Agree. It's stupid. I'm convinced most people just do it to look cool and hip.

Convinced by what?

If I'm being honest, I think the hipster-ish position here is the one above.

I didn't change mine because I didn't even know this was happening. But I look at my list of friends there and it looks like about 40% of them have changed their picture to the one being used for this.

If you're a gay person, and you may have an idea that most of your friends support you, but you're not sure, then I can see this being pretty reassuring and even moving. [expletive], I was a little moved by it. I saw a couple people in my list I wouldn't have guessed would support this.

If you don't support gay marriage and thought you're belief was much more widespread, you might also have found yourself surprised yesterday.

I think the collective effect of this small thing is much greater than a bunch of hundred word posts most people would not have likely read anyway. There IS slacktivism of course (i.e. - signing some internet petition), but I don't think we're talking about activism here. This is just showing support to your friends in (I'd argue) a very visible way.

[stlouie_lipp]

Agree. It's stupid. I'm convinced most people just do it to look cool and hip.

Convinced by what?

I can only comment on what I see on my facebook feed, and that's people that I KNOW don't really give a [expletive] about this issue (or, worse, don't even know what's happening) but want to give the appearance that they do. From there I am making an assumption that there are probably a lot of other people out there doing the same thing. I suppose it goes to my bigger issue with political "posts" on facebook. I did like this one though:

[Cronos]

For the record: for anyone who felt genuine support and empathy from this showing, I'm glad, and I hope it continues to encourage further growth and change on a macro level.

I'm admittedly cynical and am skeptical of its actual impact as far as making change or legislation, given that the majority of the ones who have and use facebook aren't the ones who need convincing on this issue.

And maybe it's just my bad luck from my environment, but I've known quite a few people who will hop on the bandwagon just to look cool or impress their friends without actually caring or backing whatever issue is being highlighted. Just my experience.