The Facebook Sonnet
“The Facebook Sonnet” is a modern sonnet that tells the story how society is constantly concerned with their social media presence and that amongst all the photos shared and friends and followers people have, loneliness seems to be what keeps them connected. The poem is in fact a sonnet, as its title suggests, that uses enjambment, repetition, and imagery to create a concept about a facebook user coming to terms that he is witnessing an online confessional of people that document their loneliness on a public journal. The setting is on facebook, and for many users it continues to be a daily ritual to log in to their accounts, check their notifications, and see familiar faces post photos of every minor life event. The conflict of this poem is both internal, as people struggle with loneliness, and external, by presenting photos and posts that are not realistic to their emotions. Sherman Alexie’s honest poem about understanding a world consumed with technology and both the internal and external conflicts social media users have should not be taken lightly. He uses a sarcastic and humorous tone to present his overall message. Alexie’s main message is to be physically and mentally aware of the impact social media has on people’s lives, and to take control of it, not letting it take control and consume users.
The importance of the first stanza is to show that the many hours spent looking through photos of people barely or once known, is time that cannot be made up. The first stanza reads, “Welcome to the endless high school/ Reunion. Welcome to past friends /And lovers, however kind or cruel. Let’s undervalue and unmend…” (Alexie, Backpack Literature 504). The “endless high school reunion” is referring to how many people are friends with the people they went to high school with or grew up with and get to see their posts and watch them grow older through facebook without having to go to a physical reunion. He is being sarcastic saying there is almost no need for face to face meetings with the convenience of the Internet. Alexie talks about the truth in how for the vast majority of social media users, allow anyone to follow them or be their friend, despite their relationship with them. This is evident when he says, “Welcome to past friends/ And lovers, however kind or cruel.”Although it is an option to choose who you are friends with online, many people accept whoever they think is worth having another friend or follower. People are concerned with their image and want to portray to others through deceptive images, thousands of followers, and fake smiles, that they have it all, when in reality they do not. In fact multiple studies show that heavy social media users have a higher increase of having depression. He then goes on to say, “Let’s undervalue and unmend…” as the second stanza begins with “The present.” Alexie is presenting the fact that so much time is wasted away on social media looking at pictures and feeling like you are socially connected to all these people, but in reality the time spent doing this, users are in isolation.
The main point of the second stanza is to demonstrate that society has become addicted to technology and social media by letting it get in the way of their actual responsibilities. Alexie begins his second stanza, “The present. Why can’t we pretend/ Every stage of life is the same? Let’s exhume, resume, and extend/ Childhood. Let’s play all the games…”(Alexie, Backpack Literature 504). Alexie’s diction here is again sarcastic and also a bit humorous. Pretending every stage of life is the same seems to be how every occasion is perceived on Facebook. The online persona of events on Facebook seem to have the same undertone with every party or event posted by every user, demonstrating the same thing. With online games and apps that not only children but adults become addicted to, the everyday responsibilities of the real world become more daunting. The escape of forgetting responsibilities, makes going back to them harder for adults. This is clear when he writes about exhuming, resuming, and extending childhood. People have become so consumed in technology that they are losing apart of themselves with procrastinating their responsibilities and letting games, videos, and social media control their time.
The importance of the third stanza is to provide readers with the clarity that overuse of the Internet and constantly upgrading technology is affecting the basic human interaction. Following the second stanza, the third stanza begins, “That occupy the young. Let fame /And shame intertwine. Let one’s search /For God become public domain. /Let church.com become our church,” (Alexie, Backpack Literature 504). This stanza starts with ending the initial thought from the last line of the second stanza, referring to how adults have become consumed in technology and into the games that children play. When Alexie says, “Let fame and shame intertwine” he could be referring to the fact how people can rise to stardom and make a living from social media. Just as easily as theses influencers rose to fame, their choices and mistakes can be broadcasted and effect their careers instantly. An example of this is television celebrity, Roseanne Barr, was recently fired and the reboot of her TV series Roseanne was canceled after she posted a series of racist tweets. Celebrities use social media as a platform to share their glamorous lives, but social media has the power to share articles, alter elections, and even end people’s careers through tweets, pictures, and shares that were not evaluated enough before they were shared to the public. Anyone's mistakes or controversial posts are left on the Internet forever, resulting in endless shame and guilt. Religion and politics seem to be a trending topic of debate and proclamation on social media sites. People post about their experiences with their religion and can even campaign online for their politicians. Religion is becoming more apparent on social media with churches creating their online platforms and live streaming their services. When Alexie says “Let church.com become our church,” he is referring to the fact that face to face meetings are becoming less common and also using the power of the phrase “church.com” to exemplify how there is a website and quick fix solution to anything with the Internet. People can feel satisfied by visiting their church online or donating money to a politician without having to physically walk the journey. Nowadays, school is online, work is online, and many other everyday things are being transitioned to this online world, making physical interactions with people more rare.
This last stanza is the most thought provoking paradox in concluding that social media isn’t too social at all. The last stanza finishes the sonnet by reading, “Let’s sign up, sign in, and confess/ Here at the altar of loneliness,” (Alexie, Backpack Literature 504). This oxymoron happens to be so true when it comes to social media. Most people want their lives to be perceived as successful and filled with happiness online, but the reality of the pictures and comments they post are not accurately representing them. Sometimes social media posts become altered towards pleasing the general public and people become consumed in trying to fit into a social standard box. Once people sign up for a specific social media platform, a routine forms revolving around daily sign ins and postings. While Facebook has the power to connect billions of people, it still does not change the loneliness that these users are experiencing.
Although this poem was written in 2011, Sherman Alexie was aware that social media was not going to stop growing anytime soon. He noticed the serious effects that it has on people who become consumed in pretending to be someone they are not. Alexie was careful to choose his diction, theme, and tone for this poem, creating a sarcastic evaluation of the everyday social media user. Despite the sarcasm, social media platforms are being sold for billions of dollars. Social media influencers and celebrities are charging hundreds of thousands of dollars for a sponsored ad that they might not even like but are willing to promote to the millions of people that follow them. People are literally dying in order to take the perfect picture in dangerous locations just for the likes. Some occupations are determining the number of followers and picture content that their candidates have in order to be hired, while others face consequences for posting something on social media that cost them their careers. This billions of dollars industry survives off of the people who constantly check their phones and laptops every day to like photos, watch videos, and give up hours of their time swiping through photos that leave them less confident and lonelier every day. It is important to be aware of the power of social media and take control of it before it takes control of you.
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