At a red light recently I was in awe of the vehicle in front of me. It was a working pickup truck. Red. Simple. A traffic cone in the bed. A working man's truck. That's about all you might know of this person if it weren't for bumper stickers.

As I began reading all about this person's existence in the short life cycle of a red light, it occurred to me that bumper stickers used to do what social media does for us now. You express your opinion and personality to people who may, or may not, care to know. To total strangers. For example, by the time that light turned green I knew that this person had a vested interest in agriculture and not much use for guns. He or she enjoys a good drink every now and then, because hey, it's 5 o'clock somewhere. A person of faith but not necessarily big on organized religion was my take. I assume they're a fan of some Russian styles of music with their Red Elvises sticker. They also just want us to be nice.

Compare this to a Facebook page. Your political views are often found there. Your religious views can be reflected. Your humor (think of all the memes), your taste in music and so on. So this business about social media changing people, well has it really? Or have we always had this burning desire to share our innermost thoughts with total strangers? The big difference of course is when someone disagreed with your bumper sticker about saving the whales they just drove away; they didn't hurl a rock with their own nasty bumper sticker at you through the open window. That my friend is the difference with social media. That, and I never see people put photos of the key lime pie they're about to eat on a bumper sticker.

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