Occasionally someone puts a post on Facebook or other social medium that suggests something dreadful and catastrophic has happened to them. But when you read on, you discover that it’s a canned posting that they are copying and pasting and exhorting you to do likewise. For example, I saw this recently from someone who doesn’t post often, and I feared the worst (until I read on):
With a heavy heart💔 and tears 😢 in my eyes nothing is more painful than trying to smile and stay positive but after many tests, injections, chemo and radiation the person changes physically and can suffer from sadness. I know a lot of y’all don’t give a crap on this post because cancer hasn’t touched you. You don’t know what it’s like to have fought the fight, or have a loved one fighting or has cancer.
Do me a small favor – I know only a few of you will do it. If you know someone who fought cancer, still fighting cancer or passed, make this your status to support, respect and remember.
Who are my 7 who will copy and paste? For friends and all.
This is just another in a long line of chain letters that began back when people wrote actual letters and sent them by postal mail. You were expected to copy it by hand (“What am I, a Medieval monk?”) and then find 10 or so people to send them on to. And you needed to do it because the sender—the originating sender or the most recent one—cursed you with bad luck if you “broke the chain.” Likewise, boons would rain down upon you if you did the sender’s bidding.
The system got better with the widespread adoption of xeroxing technology; now you could just churn out 10 copies easily. (You still needed to hand-address those envelopes to your friends, though.)
When email came along, it all became even easier. Just hit Forward and Bcc and send them off. No stamps or even friends, just random recipients, needed.
Nothing really changes. Now we have the social media version, which still expects the same sentimental reaction, with the simultaneous inflicting of emotional blackmail.
MUSOFYR 