Facebook Philosophy
February 12, 2012 by admncc
Maybe it’s me, but I’ve recently found myself getting irritated with Facebook. Actually, maybe it’s certain wall posts as opposed to Facebook as a whole. For example, a buddy of mine changed his relationship status from “Married” to “It’s Complicated.” As a result, some people were commenting and asking him what was going on. So I decided to e-mail him directly. I asked how he was doing, he was very defensive and said, “Oh, everything is fine. It’s nothing. We’re fine.” Well, if that’s the case; why in the hell did you publically change your relationship status and reveal it to your 400+ friends. Clearly he was trying to put it out there for a reason, but then backtracked on it afterwards.
Another example is a friend of mine posting, “I’m going to Germany for 18 months.” That post was followed by numerous comments and people saying “what,” “when” and “why didn’t I know.” That night she admitted that she really wasn’t traveling abroad, and that it was a post for charity? But that came after nearly eight hours of comments from concerned friends not knowing what the heck was going on.
And the final examples are the posts that are just plain ridiculous. The ones that say, “I’m lying on the couch,” “I’m at the gym” or “I’m cleaning the living room.” Seriously, do people really care?
Maybe my philosophy is different than others. I can’t stand the games and stupid application requests. I’ve always used Facebook for two purposes – to keep in touch with friends and to reconnect with those who I might not otherwise have had the opportunity to. I can do without everything else. But maybe some people truly do care when their friends are doing all the time. But I say…if you don’t have something worthwhile to say, don’t post it at all.
Interestingly, my friend, Jill, actually did a study on this topic. She is single and not dating anyone. Most people know this. So she decided to change her Facebook relationship status to “Married,” indicated she was moving abroad and then did not respond to any comments for 10 days. The concern of friends who thought she got married without telling anyone was fascinating and eye-opening. She even had a profile created for the man she married. As a result, her page was exploding with comments. But I guess that just shows you the madness of social media.
So do you post your life on there or do you want to read about others’ lives. What is your Facebook philosophy?
Comments
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
I don’t mind the glimpses into my friends’ lives but it just depends on what they post. I’ve learned to ignore most of the ridiculous stuff. I don’t think it’s a good idea to “play” with your personal information, though. A little common sense goes a long way, folks.
This is why my wife refuses to be on Facebook and why I always threaten to deactivate my account.
Interesting topic. Initially I joined FB to reconnect with
old friends. Only to really “reconnect” with old HS guys. Which got
me into a shitload of trouble. Then I became one of those ppl
who just lurked around. Not posting but readings others silly posts.
I currently only post when I have some thing happy or something to rant about.
🙂
peace
I use facebook to promote my small business…www.donlloydmusic.com
I’m also using it as a tool to find like-minded people to band together with after the economic and political collapse occurs. I’ve been able to web together several passages with like-minded friends to different areas of the country should the need to relocate come up.
Good idea, NCD, get the hell outta here!
Facebook is just a great place to see how my old friends and family memebrs are doing. I never post anything about my status or anything about my life. It is just crazy to think that people care what I think or what I am doing. To them I say get a life!
NCD, ever hear of chicken little and the sky falling? Get a life. The only way a collapse would occur is if the banking system went down. W. already tried that and it didn’t work. Rememeber, Lehman Bros.? But, you can still move outta C-town!
I really do enjoy Facebook but I’m very careful what I post on my personal page and don’t put much up often. I think it’s great for sharing photos and positive declarations. I’m not a fan of the cryptic posts or political ones. That’s not why I’m on there.
You’re cracking me up Zig…your ignorance is typical of a gov’t union servant.
CC, I see that NCD shamelessly snuck in a free web site plug, huh! LOL.
Regardless of your views, NCD is right; Facebook is a resource to find like-minded people.
I hate the stupid posts my friends make too. I could really care less if they’re sweeping their living room or watching Americon Idol. Tell me something fun and entertaining instead. And stop sending me Farmville invites people!
CC– Ever catch an episode of Jerry Springer? You wouldn’t believe how many guests come on the show telling their significant other they’re leaving them for someone they met or reconnected with via Facebook.
I mostly use it to catch up on old friends and don’t post too often.
I had Facebook before it gained popularity. At the time, I had just gotten into the world of social networking and I loved it. I was able to keep in touch with friends who lived in California when I moved to Maryland and now I’m able to keep in touch with friends from Maryland! When I first began using it, I didn’t like it. Then when it gained popularity and more and more people were using it, I began updating all the time. I was guilty of telling what I was doing every second of the day, but then a few years ago something changed who I was. TCC, you know what happened to me, but it caused me to become completely private. I began posting exclusively on my blog whenever I got the whim to and here I am 🙂 I think it’s funny how I’ve evolved on the internet, but I have been on it for over half of my life so I guess it’s exactly how it should be! Good topic though 🙂 <3
I use it to keep in touch with family and friends and to promote my company and their services.
How can I keep a friend from sending me thirty messages about FARMVILLE everyday ? I do not need to see that they have found a new animal or made a new recipe until i log into the game itself and I don’t want to have to block all messages from the friend.
I know of two couples who met and began relationships through Facebook. Didnt think it would amount to anything but what began as a cyber relationship turned to true love. Both couples are married and one couple is expecting. Online love, better than hitting the bars.
NCD, you’re right. I am a typical Government worker…I make the typical salary. I have the typical benefits. I have the typical desk in the typical cubical. I take the typcal 6 weeks of vacation a year. I work the typical 8 and a half hour day! But then I get to come home to my extraordinary wife and my extraordinary son and that really makes my life. Sounds pretty good to me. What about you? Do you have a job? Do you have any benefits? Do you ever leave the house? Being a normal anything is fine with me. If you were a normal anything you would realize how good it is to be normal.
I met my girlfriend through a social media website but that’s beside the point.I despise FB. I never wanted to join. My girlfriend created an account for me. Didn’t tell me until after the fact. I suddenly get emails from FB that twenty amount of “people want to be your friend.” “Someone you know has a birthday this week.” Most of these people I barely know and haven’t seen them since college. I am sure they don’t care about what I do and in turn, I could care less what they ate for lunch or that they picked their kids up from karate class or whatever activity they engage in. One stupid person posted they hadn’t had a bowel movement in over a week and were looking for advice. My GF that created my account screwed up my PC from going onto her page and playing farmville. She’d just hop on my computer when I was at work. I tried setting a password, but that didn’t work. Thanks in advance for letting me rant and for posting this topic and Mark Zukerberg, I hate you.
One of these days Zig and NeoConDon will actually agree on something. One of these days…
Let’s not turn this post into a political argument guys. LOL.
People were divorcing and cheating long before social media and will be doing so when Facebook and the rest die out. I think making Facebook the problem takes the responsibility out of the hands of the real culprit.
If you’re anything like me, there will be two times when you update your relationship status: when you get engaged and when you get married. Some people want to change that little notification the moment they meet someone. Don’t spring this on someone. Have a conversation and both agree on what works for you.
Angry about something someone just did? That little status update is just so hungry for you to share your deepest feelings! But fights and issues are honestly nobody’s business except your own. Why would I share this with my high school librarian?
I do have a FB account, originally opened to help promote blogs from a humor site I belonged to. When I started getting numerous “friend” requests from the friends of the fellow bloggers, and friends of their friends and so on and so on, I changed every setting to private and ignored all requests ’cause it is such a huge waste of time and is creating a generation of Me, Me, No One Else Is More Important Than ME people! Nothing irks me more than to see the majority of my coworkers blowing a day on Facebook on the office computers, then they bitch and moan how they cannot complete their job because they just don’t have enough time. Pay me to do your job too, and I’ll be happy to ignore your FB addiction. Until then, you are on your own.
I like Facebook. Mainly for the same reasons everybody already mentioned: staying in touch with friends and also promoting my wedding photography business. I am very strict as far as my account goes: I don’t accept/add people I don’t want to keep in touch with, and as soon as somebody starts posting shitty things I’m not interested in, I either unfriend them, or block them so I don’t get updates from them.
I don’t really get stupid messages from my friends, everybody seems to post photos, links to cool stuff they find, cool music, and obviously pictures of cats. But as I’ve said, I’m very selective. Otherwise I would go insane.
PS: thanks for your comment on my blog. I’m glad you like my pics and hope you’re having a great weekend too.