Last week, like most people, I was glued to my laptop and TV as reports came in about what had happened in Boston. And, like most people, I watched as news organizations clamored to report information, even if it was false information, and noticed how quickly some people jumped at the chance to put their voices “out there” in response to the tragedy.

Back in the day, newspapers and news anchors were the only voices you heard when something awful happened, but now, as we’ve seen here on the blog, including after Sandy Hook which was pretty much the worst thing ever, everyone has a chance to make their thoughts and feelings known to the public via social media. Usually I’m all for people ‘having a voice’, and I think social media provides an excellent outlet for news to be distributed and for people to come together in times of sorrow. But the question I have is, WHY do people always have to make this shit about them? 

Whenever there’s a mass attack in the U.S., I receive an onslaught of submissions about people who “use” the event as a way to seem sympathetic, or to appear like they want to be part of the larger conversation, when really all they want to do is talk about themselves or their kids. After going through dozens of submissions, I’ve narrowed down the most egregious examples in this mega round-up as a plea to parents (and to everyone, really) to stop talking during crises. If you want to say you’re upset, or concerned or angry, go for it. But don’t do it in the same breath that you talk about your kid’s soccer game. It’s a bad look. Trust me. I wrote about this subject in my column on Mommyish, and now here are several more examples of how NOT to talk about the Boston bombings (or any awful incident) on social media:

1. Lighter Notes

Aw, shucks, Fawn. Ain’t life grand? I mean except when it’s not, when you have to worry about the state of the world and whatnot, but other than that? When you can just sit back and enjoy being a baseball mom, making cookies with Ms. Pat and talking about how to get out grass stains? That is the best. LOVE it. 

2. Thoughts and Prayers

WOO HOO Olivia! 5 big girl steps! How amazing is it that on the exact same day that several people had to get their limbs amputated, Olivia took her first official steps! This blogger is perplexed by Leslie’s unintentional ignorance. :)

Today is the third time I’ve put up a current events post related to gun violence (not including this post and this post about kids and guns). That’s a lot of depressing posts. After the shootings on Friday, I received far more submissions over the weekend than I anticipated, proving yet again that social media plays a very big role in how we all deal with tragedy of this magnitude. It seemed like everybody was chiming in on this particular story, and for obvious reasons. Friday and Saturday were so emotional, people craved the support of their fellow Facebook friends and/or Twitter followers. I watched the posting frenzy go down on Twitter, but it mostly just made me feel worse. Links to TV clips of young children being interviewed or websites posting misinformation about the shooter were so disheartening to watch and read. All the speculation, history of gun violence factoids, and constant updates were a bit much, to put it mildly.

In that sense, I wasn’t necessarily surprised that I received so many submissions. Still, it made me realize something: Everyone talks out their feelings online now, in real time, and I’m not sure how I feel about that. Sometimes it’s comforting. Other times, it’s overwhelming. I do think the people in today’s submissions are probably nice and well-intentioned, but I also think their updates reflect the current state of response to a terrible situation. There are a lot of meaningful ways that people come together during trying times, but every now and then, it’d be nice if people just stopped talking for an hour or even a day. I know it’s good that information travels as quickly as it does now, but damn, last weekend was a lot to process. Here’s a long and comprehensive round-up of submissions that were written between Friday and Sunday, broken into five main categories:

1. Making Tragic Events About Them 

Thanks for that postscript, Kinzi, but unfortunately no one cares about your baby’s teething at the moment. Now isn’t the time to complain about a healthy’s baby’s developmental ailments. Take solace in the fact that we live in modern times with modern medicine, because according to Wikipedia, “Old remedies for teething include “blistering, bleeding, placing leeches on the gums, and applying cautery to the back of the head.”” Your baby won’t have to endure any of that, *and* he’s still alive for you to raise. Sounds like a win-win to me.

Is morning the loss of dead children something that occurs primarily in the early AM hours? Also, “love him to death”? Nice phrasing there, Green. ….seriously…

A couple of weeks ago, Hurricane Sandy hit the Northeast. It was and still is a shitty time for those affected, and for that reason I waited to post a round-up. I started thinking maybe I wouldn’t post one at all, but I’ve decided to run this because I do think some people could be more sensitive. And by “be more sensitive” I mean “learn when to be quiet.” I also think it’s worth spotlighting the comically predictable nature of parents’ updates whenever disaster strikes. Status updates can easily be placed into one of two categories: The Jokester and the Woe Is Mom. The Jokester was first mentioned in this post, and was pretty well-covered in this post, but I always enjoy being introduced to new ones; and the Woe Is Mom you all already know, because her sass knows no bounds.

First, let’s check out some Hurricane Sandy Jokesters:

OK, how cute is this? It’s the Disneyfied retelling of Hurricane Sandy according to a mom in Idaho. Such charm has she with her “verbal rain” lifeboat jokes! Teeheehehehe. Someone please pass me the biscotti. 

Just a little wordplay for you folks playing at home. You know how babies are when they become mobile. They’re little hurricanes!! They wreak havoc on your home! They’re unstoppable forces not to be reckoned with! Hurricane Sandy may have seemed frighteningly destructive, but Hurricane Olen is capable of spilling grape juice everywhere. Think about that.