FROM THE PUBLISHER | The 'you' pivot

Note the shift from the third person to the second person in the second sentence. In other words, the intended audience goes from the universal — that is, the entire world — to the singular second person. It switches from reporting to the whole world to speaking directly to “you,” in this case, Little Missy. That’s the “you pivot.”

Thing is, if the writer of that post actually wanted to say anything directly to Little Missy, all she would have to do is ask her to come down from her bedroom to the dining room table. Directly addressing your own kid, or your spouse, is entirely possible to do in the actual world, without turning into a matter for consumption by the digital universe.

But here’s the real deal: The writer of that post is not really directly addressing Little Missy. She’s still addressing the entire world. She wants the entire world to THINK that she’s addressing Little Missy, and that therefore she’s a really great mom. “Keep being you,” is not anything she actually expects Little Missy to read or absorb; “Keep being you” is something she wants her friends to think she is saying to Little Missy.

It always helps me to remember that the entire premise of Facebook — or Twitter, or instagram — is “LOOK AT ME!”

Simple enough. What’s so bothersome about the “you pivot,” I suppose, is the disingenuousness of it. The thing starts out straightforward, with some sort of report about what has happened. But then the shift, and we’re supposed to swallow without question the notion that the post has now become a direct address to whoever “you” is?

Every time it happens, and it happens a lot, I want to yell at the screen: Go talk to your husband, or your wife, or your kid, or your parent! Or your dogs! Don’t pretend to talk to them so that you get me to think a certain way about you! In fact, the very fact that you’re doing that makes me seriously question the very notion that you’re trying to promote. If you’re that great of a parent, why are you directly addressing Little Missy on Facebook?

OK, OK. Rant over. Thank you for listening. Keep being you.