4 Biggest Mother’s Day Social Media Missteps
As far as holidays go, Mother’s Day is traditionally in the minor leagues.
It’s an important one, yes, but it barely takes up an entire aisle in CVS. No long weekend, no dead deity, no big deal.
Unless, of course, you’re going by social media standards. Because on Facebook and Twitter, Mother’s Day is apparently a High Holy Day of Sharing (and, possibly, caring).
Not that there’s necessarily anything wrong with that. After months of stalking your bar selfies and whiny status updates, your mom was probably delighted to spot herself in your new profile picture. If your partner granted you a tiny human over the past year, it’s more than appropriate to send a shout-out. You gave life to those kids and got them dressed for a family photo shoot before noon? Go ahead, lady — blow up my feed with your tiny army of brunch terrorists. You earned this.
That said, there was also some pretty questionable Mother’s Day posting this year. Do mom a favor and remember the following next time around.
If you must sell something, sell it the right way
Whereas it feels gross to make a profit on Veterans Day or September 11 (why yes, we did go there), Mother’s Day is an established commercial holiday that almost requires shopping. This brilliant ad from The Body Shop features corgis in a bathtub and what I’m going to pretend is the real Prince Harry’s butt. Spotify, on the other hand, opted for a tone-deaf tweet insinuating women don’t know how to use technology. Do you hear that, Spotify? That’s the hungry roar of Lady Twitter. You do not want to anger Lady Twitter.
Be honest: Who is that photo for?
Did you change your profile picture because you wanted to honor the amazing woman who gifted you with life, or because your arm looked skinny in that shot? Was it to celebrate the beauty of motherhood, or the beauty of yourself? Human emotions and motives can be a little tough to figure out in the age of retweets, so here’s a handy equation: The number of times you checked for “likes” – The number of times you called your mom last month = How hesitant you should be about bringing children into this world
Your pets aren’t children
On Sunday, I ordered a pile of Thai food and binge-watched Botched with my shih tzu. It was a glorious day, but it wasn’t a Mother’s Day (although I did manage to get toast crumbs in bed). Fellow dog ladies, I say this with love, but this isn’t our holiday to commandeer. Posting pictures of “fur babies” is giving us a bad name — and this is coming from a woman who owns a doggie stroller.
No grumping
As in, absolutely none. Of course this is a made-up holiday — all holidays are made up. Yes, the brunch line at Honey’s will be a unique little hell, but that’s what you get for not knowing how to add heat to eggs. Think this is a good time to post your petty rant about how the patriarchy insists on wishing you a happy Mother’s Day? Lady, order some pad thai and simmer down. This day is about mom, and the least we could do is stop bickering.
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