Monday, March 25, 2013

Thoughts on Facebook

1.  I have become more into Facebook now that I am getting lazier with blogging.

2.  I feel like I am more personal with my blog.  I will put anything on here.  But Facebook feels more public to me.  I know..makes no sense because my blog is public.  I think it is because men are involved on Facebook and blogging is mostly just the women.

3.  I love being able to go look up who someone is and cyber stalk them.  So what?

4.  I don't love when all of some one's photos are private...see #3.

5.  When someone posts nothing but uplifting quotes--I assume they are depressed.

6.   I have "friends" on facebook who I want to pull aside and tell them they are making a fool of themselves.  Stop posting everyday!  Stop posting all the self portraits!  Stop "liking" all the photos where it is a soldier holding a baby and it says "like if you have a heart..ignore if you are a horrible person."

7.  Facebook is very important in the dating world.  It is the #1 marketing tool.  If you are single, you don't have the option of not being on Facebook.

8.  I still feel like there are people from high school that I am not cool enough to be friends with on Facebook.

9.  There are people from high school that I barely knew then and now think I they are hilarious because of Facebook.  Why didn't I know this about them back then?

10.  There are so many etiquette questions with Facebook...Is it rude to untag an unflattering photo of myself?  Can I defriend someone quietly?  Is it rude to ignore a friend request? 

What am I missing?  Is Instagram killing facebook?  Do all of your Crossfit friends talk about it incessantly on FB?  What are your Facebook pet peeves?

20 comments:

Jill said...

I haven't made my peace with Facebook yet. I have closed my account 4 different times but then realized I needed to adjust the settings on the people who were making me crazy. It has helped tremendously.

I find I like it most for keeping up with people in my ward since they share stuff I wouldn't know about otherwise.

Linde said...

I so agree with #5 & 6. So funny and TRUE!!

Elizabeth said...

Two things: I once liked a pic of a soldier holding a child AND you can unfriend peeps without them knowing (In light of my first thing, you may find my second thing helpful).

Ashley said...

I put so much more on my blog bc I feel like blog readers are choosing to come hear about me whereas I feel like FB friends are more acquaintances who often have little in common with me and won't care about what I'm saying. I base that largely on how little I care about much of what my acquaintances post on FB.

Ashley said...

I also think about 99 percent of political posts don't belong on FB. Nobody is changing anybody's opinions. Just annoying and alienating people. I am annoyed even by other conservatives posting crap on there.

Hansens said...

Pet peve nuemero uno. I feel like the bolder and ruder people are on FB, the more shy and cowerdly they are in real life. There are people in my ward that post the most vile political rants and yet can't give a talk, a lesson or even a closing prayer. That's so pathatic how people are so brave in their little bedrooms behind thier little keyboards. I have not nor will I ever post ANYTHING political, it drives me CRAZY.
#2 It bug me when I get a fried request and there are no pictures of the person, but lots of pictures of their cats, dogs, games they like, etc. and I have no problem, not one, unfriending, or not accepting a friend request. If I didn't want to know what you were up to in highschool, what makes you think I want to know what your Bejewled score is now?

Cameron said...

I think it's a good idea to periodically clean house on facebook. Every six months or so I will conduct a "friend purge" which is where I remove people who: 1) I have no idea who they are or how we ended up as friends on facebook (seriously, every time I still find a few of these) 2) constantly post in-your-face political crap, self-obsessed photos or posts, emotional blackmail, etc. 3) I never really wanted to be friends with on facebook anyway but it would have been too awkward at the time to reject their request. Maybe this makes me sound rude or arrogant but I don't care - after all, who wants to be a victim of an internet sexual predator?!

KS said...

Brooke! This is Katherine Sam. So, I am grateful for the almighty Facebook for reconnecting me with you and therefore connecting me to your blog which I find HILARIOUS. Had to comment here. I agree with your thoughts on FB, and I will also add that I am floored by the things people think are appropriate to share with 500 or 600 of their closest friends. For example, a lady in my ward (who is facebook friends with many of the men in the ward) recently thought it was a good idea to share about how her nipples are so bloody from breastfeeding that her baby is spitting up blood. GASP!

Lauren said...

I wish over the years I would have been more selective about who I accepted as friends on Facebook because now I'm stuck with a bunch of people I would like to delete, but feel bad doing so. Better to just not accept those people from the start in my opinion.

Amy M. said...

Self portraits doing duck face are the worst! Updating your status about every boring breath you take is also annoying. Crossfit-obsessed posts are ten snores.

Kimberly said...

I recently drafted a snarky reply to someone on FB and then realized that I'd had that urge to post snarky replies to all her posts the last few months. So, I unfriended her. It was the lesser of two evils.

People don't even know when you unfriend them unless they specifically look for you. FB doesn't notify all the people you unfriend.

senofhans said...

My two-bits on Facebook. No. 2 – I do find it awkward when people are too personal on FB. I think that it is because the posts are served up to you daily, you don’t have to go looking for them. Whereas a blog you have to go looking for and is a site dedicate to your thoughts and your ideas alone. I do object to the women only blog comment, there are few dudes who blog (poorly and inconsistently, but do blog). No. 3 – Stalking is an integral part of Facebook. There is the opportunity to peek into other people’s lives and say “Well I guess things aren’t all that bad with me after all.” No. 5 – Definitely! No. 9 – Same here. Maturity is a nice thing for all of us in a lot of ways.

Molly said...

#4 - Yes! FB is about being able to stalk people! Although I have no idea if all my photos are private or not.
#5 - Agreed. This used to annoy me but now my heart just hurts for them.

Em said...

No. 10: No. Yes. and definitely No! I've started ignoring all kinds of fb requests, even when they're people I see on a regular basis. (Or else I friend them and put them as a restricted friend or acquaintance.)

Pet Peeves: 1) Crossfit for sure! Enough already. 2) Amen about the political posts. I need to befriend some more liberals, it looks like. ;) 3) Not being able to control what shows up in other people's news feeds. 4) The sharing of news photos/stories that clearly aren't true. A little research goes a long way. (Except for the story about the autistic girl at Chili's. I loved that one--and it was true!) 5) All the new public groups for sick children and also spoiled people who need 1,000 likes. This seems heartless, but it seems a desperate act to "share" your story with millions of people you don't even know. That's what blogs are for. Which leads me to...

I totally agree with Ashley's comment about the blog being more personal. I always share big news on my blog first b/c I feel like those who read it actually know and care about the real me. I'm just getting too lazy to post on it, especially now that I've got Instagram. :)

Great post, Brooke.

Shelby said...

We are not facebook friends. You have no idea who I am. But I LOVE your blog. Weird/Creepy I know. But I hope you will stay public so I can keep reading. On that note, my favorite one was the Crossfit one. I keep saying that I can't wait for the whole Crossfit fad to end. So. Darn. Annoying! My friends (who all look like men more everyday they do Crossfit) say they don't think it will go away. Ha! All exercise fads fade away...

Unknown said...

I love this! My thoughts on unfriending the crazies- you can hide their posts from view, but keep them as a friend so you can read their stuff once in a while and feel a little better about yourself.

alexandra said...

I wish I could re-do my facebooking history. It is a great way to reconnect with people, and get to know people we missed out on when we inhabited the same space in the world, but it can also become a forum for unpleasantness and embarrassment. The only updates that bother me are ones that are sort of sexual, which is not often. Other than that, I just skip over stuff that bores or grates. I did not use to do this, and would engage sometimes, and gosh I regret that heartily. I think that defriending people usually not necessary--you can adjust your settings to hide their updates and then there is no weirdness. I do wish I had kept my friends circle smaller, though. That's why I like Instagram so much.

Vermont Madsens said...

Yes, agree that people who only post uplifiting quotes are most likely depressed. Also think that people who require 'likes' and 'comments' for every time they run on a treadmill are likley also depressed - need way too much reassurance and are fishing for compliments. I'm waiting for someone to start posting every time they read their scriptures.

SewSara said...

Wait, why didn't you link to this blog post ON facebook? ;-)

#6 made me giggle. SO true!
I have some friends like that and I'm embarrassed every time there's a new self photo.

The political and gay marriage stuff is out of control right now, too.

Go read my post that i made last night. i need more validation ;-)

Jenn J. said...

As usual, another post by Brooke that did not disappoint. I love this.
I agree with it all. Personally, the number one thing I don't like about Facebook is that it's killing blogs. Blogs are so much better than Facebook.
I, too, hate political posts, posts that talk about bodily fluids, and posts that talk about how much someone worked out that day. I also hate people trying to sell things to me on Facebook. (Scentsy, oils, jewelry...)
I also think it's totally acceptable to unfriend. I'd be surprised if anyone really remembered everyone who they had friended on Facebook anyway and would probably just assume you were never friends if they ever noticed. That being said, I have just "hidden" people before so I don't have to see their posts. They can still see mine obviously, but I don't have to cringe through theirs.