This Is What Happens When You Get "Engaged" On FB

When comedian Zach Broussard posted fake engagement photos on Facebook, by all rights it should have been a prank like any other — good for a laugh, but most likely short-lived. Surely Broussard's Facebook friends would notice that the woman in his "engagement" post is decidedly not his girlfriend, Mary, and demand answers. On the other hand, though, people can be incredibly oblivious, especially in the face of the seemingly endless series of life events we're inundated with on Facebook every day. Which would win out: basic powers of observation, or the laziness that leads us to blindly "like" every engagement photo and move on with our daily Facebook stalking?

As you've probably guessed by now, laziness won this one. Hardcore. After Broussard and a few friends asked total strangers in L.A.'s Barnsdall Park to post engagement photos with each other on social media and see what happened, it quickly became apparent that the vast majority of us just can't be bothered to look beyond the word "engaged" when liking a post on Facebook. Even when the person in question is an 18-year-old girl or happens to be currently engaged to another woman, the faux-engagement photos received "like" after "like."

In case you're wondering, Broussard's photo garnered more than 350 likes, according to the Huffington Post. Unsurprisingly, the majority of the comments came from the "people he hasn't seen in years" demographic.

According to Broussard, the Facebook friends who he'd never actually met in real life had the best reactions. "They were so sincere... despite not knowing me at all. That was kind of sweet," he told HuffPo.

Before you start scoffing at the state of humanity, though, take a chill pill. At least a few comments on each post were of the "WTF" variety, and one man's brother immediately texted him with a succinct, "Really?"

The prank is a clear indication that we could all stand to pay a little more attention when scrolling through Facebook, but it's not exactly worth losing your faith in humanity over. Where's the harm in congratulating someone for finding happiness in another person, even if that person is a total stranger you've never seen before? If anything, Broussard's prank is proof that we all have a little Andy Dwyer in us: Totally oblivious, but we mean well.

Broussard edited the prank into an adorable video, which you can watch below:

Images: Maegan Tintari/Flickr; Zach Broussard/YouTube; Giphy