Jenn is writing about FB

What people choose to post on Facebook is interesting to me, especially for their ‘status’. There are shout-outs and inside jokes like you’d find in a yearbook. There are those banal updates on the latest happenings in a person's day, which could be posted hourly.

Facebook Fan Coffee is sooo good in the morning!
6 hours ago · Comment · Like

Facebook Fan Off to work
4 hours ago · Comment · Like

Facebook Fan Bored at work
2 hours ago · Comment · Like

Facebook Fan Long day...
1 hour ago · Comment · Like

Facebook Fan Coffee is sooo good during the day!!!
45 minutes ago · Comment · Like

Facebook Fan Home finally!
6 minutes ago · Comment · Like

And then there are those sad but ambiguous posts that seem to scream for attention.

Facebook Fan It shouldn’t be like this…
2 hours ago · Comment · Like

Facebook Fan Life is full of regrets…
12 minutes ago · Comment · Like

In these situations, as the person posting one should always add the ellipses to provide a sense of forlorn. And then you’re sure to get all those Facebook friends asking you, what happened? Is everything okay? Call me.

Most seem to use their ‘status’ to showcase how fantastically social, tragic or boring their lives are. I’m certainly guilty of posting a few needless status updates that I’ve looked back and wondered, who cares what I’m doing with my Saturday afternoon? The question still remains, why did I feel compelled to post it in the first place?

Facebook is kind of like reliving high school in the virtual world. There are those that try to friend everyone, striving to be most popular and most-liked, and where quantity always trumps quality. There are others who have joined and just collect friends, hundreds of them. Do they think they’re above participating in the Facebook community? I myself am not a very active participant, more like a silent but curious observer who admittedly likes to peer into the lives of others that I normally wouldn’t interact with, or ultimately care to for that matter.

What really astounds me is how you can get a glimpse of the life of a complete stranger thanks to a few (hundred) photos posted online. I got to see the crazy shenanigans at this girl’s bachelorette party simply because a Facebook friend was tagged in her album. Personally, if I was the bachelorette I wouldn’t want my fiancée seeing these photos let alone the entire FB community. And let’s talk about these photos for a second. It appears that some people lose all sense of inhibition when posting pictures. Maybe it’s a sign of confidence and self assuredness to post photos of yourself looking like a hot mess in the middle of Times Square on a Friday night. But when it’s online, you don’t know who ultimately has access to viewing these and bottom line, you look like a fool for many to see.

The opportunity to be and to showcase whomever you want on a particular day at a particular hour is what is so appealing for many on Facebook. Today your pictures say you’re the queen of your social circle. Tomorrow your status might reveal the reality. You can pick and choose your truths, or at least the ones you want known. So if everything posted, be it status, photos, your profile, even your blog, is a choice and is done with some degree of intent, then can we really know who anyone is in this virtual community? Perhaps I’m delving too deep into the social-psychology of it all. In the end, Facebook is like sweetener sprinkled on a boring moment in the day; the perfect dose of brain candy.