The Sound & fury
rang@theguidon.com

Several weeks ago, Facebook walls were barraged with seemingly random proclamations of color from our female contacts. There was “White!” and “Mmm red.” There was “Sea green” and “Rainbow.”

But then it got weirder, with patterns and even textures. There were stripes and polka dots, ribbed and even leather.

As it turned out, the Facebook community wasn’t playing Taboo or some kind of communal guessing game. Our friends, as I later found out, were proclaiming the colors or designs of their bras. Yes, bras as in brassiere.

Apparently, it was the Facebook community’s way of raising awareness for breast cancer, as bizarre as that might sound. It obviously has to do with breasts. What this public display has to do with breast cancer though, is beyond me.

When it comes down to it, it was an ineffective, borderline lewd, and downright stupid movement.

But what else is new? Welcome to Generation Me, where “twibbons” indicate your values and memes mean being connected to the world.My generation is a generation of entitlement—arrogant brats who think our mere presence, the mere attachment of our name to a cause (even on Facebook), and our mere desire for change, are enough to change the world.

We are so into ourselves, in fact, that we fancy ourselves internet celebrities, opening Formspring accounts and allowing our pretend fans to ask us anything they want to—from our loves lives to career plans.

This is the offshoot of growing up blogging. After years of having a ready audience for our thoughts–from teenage dirtbag crushes to hormonal woe-is-me rants—we assume that all it takes to make a connection and make a change is posting an entry on Facebook.

It’s slacktivism and we’re slacktivists. We assume that making a change is as simple as wanting it. We want change but not the work we have to put into making that happen.

This is particularly perplexing because it lets a lot of people believe they’re making a positive social impact without really do anything worth anything.

Just consider the millions who didn’t register for the elections. After posting twibbons and joining Facebook groups, they think they’ve done their part in solving national issues. What about registering for elections? We say it’s an archaic concept and that it won’t help things anyway. We proclaim wanting change in the government but we don’t even have the time to help this change happen. We talk the talk but can’t walk the walk.

Two weekends ago, I went on my immersion. Unlike most seniors, I wasn’t able to go with groupmates and ended up going with the Office of Social Concern and Involvement on an Ondoy relief operation. Apparently, after the hysteria around Ondoy died down, the volunteers dispersed as well. The office’s team was left to do the operation by themselves. I was surprised there weren’t more students who wanted to go. Where were the socially-aware Facebook posters with their twibbons and memes? Where were the Twitter activists?

Online, of course, tweeting about Haiti in between rounds of Cafe World. Bayanihan during Ondoy was great. But living bayanihan out after Ondoy in our offline lives? Now that’s something worth tweeting about.