The word “trending” has gone through an interesting metamorphosis in the social media generation. Used to be, something was “trending up” or “trending down,” depending on whether one was discussing (respectively) butter or margarine, cauliflower or broccoli rabe.
Now things are just “trending.” It is as though the quality of an item or topic is irrelevant; all that matters is that people are talking about it. It’s the new version of “no publicity is bad publicity,” I guess.
My good friend Brad Sullivan showed me the road to the preacher getaway to which I have made extensive reference recently in this space. But I needed to leave the event early, so I drove home alone. And I got lost. As in, I didn’t know which road to get on, what direction to go, or even where to find a decent WiFi signal so my phone could educate me properly.
I needed a map.
Social media has given a voice to people who take great pleasure in being obnoxious. Space fails to provide a comprehensive proof of this concept; for our purposes here, I will limit my frame of reference to those who take pictures of themselves doing precisely what a sign is instructing people not to do. Walking on the grass, swimming, smoking, the situational prohibitions run the gamut. And the existence of the sign more or less implies that the behavior is not necessarily unlawful; people are simply asked to choose a different time and/or place.
Nope. “Look at me! I’m a rebel! I break rules! No one can tell me what to do!” As the saying goes, it’s all fun until someone gets eaten by an alligator.
