Lamentable

I've spent the morning mired in shame (or is it guilt? -- I never could keep those two straight). Now that Facebook is in my life, sometimes, when I think of something I consider clever, instead of annoying my family with it I'll annoy my Facebook friends with it. It happened this morning, and as usual I got a couple of replies showing that folks got the joke and basically supported my right to crack wise on the 'net.

This morning, however, is the morning we found out how awful the earthquake in Haiti was. My wisecrack sits on my home page surrounded by expressions of sorrow and support. Even to myself, I look like an insensitive fool.

I got to wondering about the etiquette of being jolly online while sad things happen around us. There's no time when sad things aren't happening, of course. If it isn't a soldier getting blown up it's a Sri Lankan journalist getting locked up or scam victims getting hit up or the atmosphere getting heated up. It's a sad, sad world. Should we feel obligated to comment upon each and every bad thing that comes to our attention? Should we refrain from silliness for a time? If so, how long? Does it depend on the scale of the disaster, or how close we are to somebody directly affected?

Serious organizations are using Facebook to build support for serious causes, as well they should, but I think it's appropriate to ask whether a medium originally meant for friends to share light moments together can also be the right place to get heavy.