FACEBOOK REALITY

His cell rang. Jack O'Connell, the great unpublished novelist, answered it.

"Your Carolina Reyna! It's a masterpiece.

Estanislao Contreras, the poet of Chicano Fuck Songs, was on the other end.

"That was a magnificent piece," he continued. "The rhythm, the tension and then the concluding irony. You write in that fashion and we will be able to count you among the finest American authors. Why aren't you posting it on Facebook?"

"Facebook wouldn't tolerate the subject matter. I would be exiled permanently from Facebook and I don't want that sentence. Facebook is useful to me, but you have to abide by its limitations. Would you tell the worshipers in the pews near you during mass a dirty joke? Of course not. That's Facebook. Instead, you wait for the barbecue before the Cowboys game and you regale your buddies with your humor. That's Google. I can live with that reality."

"What is Facebook's reality?" asked Contreras. "It touted its role during the uprisings and revolutions of the Arab Spring as it allowed dissidents to post their dissatisfaction with their various governments. Facebook allows foreigners to criticize their own dictators, but an American company doesn't allow Americans to speak freely, particularly against their own government. I don't get it."

"The Arab Spring swept Facebook into unknown territory and it was a heady experience for the outlet. Our government, because it sympathized with the opposition, didn't push back, so Facebook went with the flow."

"Why has it retreated so dramatically and drastically?" questioned Contreras.

"Because being a platform or a forum wasn't its original intention. Facebook exists to communicate mundane information like the following examples: It would be my father's 88th birthday. He's been dead for six years. Happy Birthday, Daddy. You will always be in our hearts. Or: We found a lost puppy on the corner of McAllen and 802. It is part poodle. Call 459-6969. Or: Southmost Boulevard is completely under water. Avoid the area!"

"But I see some wicked commentary combined with nasty language. Why aren't these sites closed."

"Mostly likely because a nobody is criticizing a nobody and nobody really notices. In my case, I walk on thin ice because I'm politically controversial. In football one guy punches another and the second retaliates just as the ref is turning toward them and the latter gets flagged. The same scenario affects me. A Trump supporter will insult my Biden sympathies. I will rip him a new one, but in literary prose. The Trump then supporter submits my comments to Facebook, accuses me of bullying and I'm silenced for a month. I've endured this punishment on 14 different occasions. Therefore, I know that my short story--Carolina Reyna--would never fly. I accept the limitations and remind my readers time and time again that they need to read The McHale Report where I have vastly more freedom."

"Keep writing more Carolina Reynas. That's good shit. You're displaying genuine artistic talents and skills. As I told you before: Carolina Reyna is a masterpiece."

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