Editing 1761: Blame

{{comic
| number    = 1761
| date      = November 18, 2016
| title     = Blame
| image     = blame.png
| titletext = I bet if I yell at my scared friends I will feel better.
}}

==Explanation==

[[Cueball]] states that he feels sad and links it with his observation that bad things are happening. Sadness is a normal human reaction to perceived bad events<ref>http://www.clinical-depression.co.uk/dlp/depression-information/causes-of-depression/</ref>. (Other emotions that might be felt at such times include anger and guilt.)
 
He then reasons that it must be someone's fault. If the "bad things" in question are not natural calamities or accidents, it is usually logical to surmise that someone is responsible for them taking place.

After some thinking, he has an idea. Ideas are usually the result of thinking (unless they are a result of {{w|computers}}{{Citation needed}}), although it might not always be conscious thinking like Cueball is doing.

He then blames his "friends on {{w|Facebook}}", an online website that helps people communicate with other people through their computers and handheld electronic devices. While there could be possible reasons for bad events (for example if the bad event was nobody wishing him a happy birthday or someone posting compromising pictures,) his friends would not be a likely source for bad events extending beyond a personal or local scope. Most people have a few hundred (or thousand) "friends" on Facebook, most of whom do not have enough influence to cause bad events on a national or global level.{{Citation needed}}

This is a reference to people ranting on {{w|social media}} sites (like Facebook) about various things which are blamed on certain people (or sometimes everyone), but the person doing the ranting never thinks that the problem might be with themselves.

It could possibly also be a reference to how an individual's Facebook news feed has probably been inundated by political posts due to the results of the recent 2016 {{w|United States presidential election}}, and possibly due to state and local elections. One read on this is that, many people, including [http://www.npr.org/sections/alltechconsidered/2016/07/24/486941582/the-reason-your-feed-became-an-echo-chamber-and-what-to-do-about-it| some news sources], have pointed out that social media forms an "echo chamber", and some sources have claimed that this is responsible both for political polarization (see [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rE3j_RHkqJc&t=2s| this video]) and even for [http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/donald-trump-president-social-media-echo-chamber-hypernormalisation-adam-curtis-protests-blame-a7409481.html| the recent victory] of {{w|Donald Trump}}.  Notably, [[Randall]] supported {{w|Hillary Clinton}}, the {{w|Democratic}} nominee in [[1756|a recent comic]].  Therefore, blaming social media for the election can be read as blaming his friends echoing his ideas back to him as causing (partially) Clinton's loss; thus they are (partially) at fault for his presumed sadness over her loss in the election.  A second read on this would be that constant reminders of Clinton's loss only serve to make Randall sadder: again the proximal cause being his friends' posts.  A third read would be that friends with whom Cueball/Randall disagrees are posting things that he finds unpleasant to read, either ideas that he finds offensive or inconvenient, or posts "rubbing in" the victory of the candidate Randall opposed.

The title text refers to people venting. The (humorous) assumption here is that one will feel better after doing so. While some amount of venting might help to relieve stress caused by bad events, alienating people you know by blaming them for bad events usually causes more stress in the long run. The fact that he recognizes his friends are scared, like him, but still thinks yelling at them is a good idea shows he's more interested in making himself feel better rather than caring about the well being on his friends.  Additionally, "yelling" on social media would likely only increase the influx of: 
* Political posts reminding Cueball of his sadness 
* Angry messages back at him 
* Reminders of the reason he's sad, including possibly "rubbing in" the sad feelings 
* Posts design to offend Cueball, including posts design to offend his political sensibilities; all of these would make him feel worse, potentially in relatively short order.

==Transcript==
:Cueball (thinking): I feel sad.
:Bad things are happening.

:Cueball (thinking): They must be someone's fault.
:But whose?

:[Cueball makes several thinking poses before a light bulb appears, indicating he has an idea]

:Cueball (thinking): ''My friends on Facebook.''

{{comic discussion}}