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> While people are sharing plenty of news, they’re posting less photos and status updates about their own lives. Facebook seems to have become this battlegroun

> While people are sharing plenty of news, they’re posting less photos and status updates about their own lives. Facebook seems to have become this battleground for status. People post to Facebook when they : a) are travelling to some exotic or foreign locations b) got admissions to prestigious schools or got amazing jobs c) had a pretty picture of themselves taken d) are outraged by some social injustice etc When I meet past friends who are going through a slump in their life I am reminded how little I know what is happening to them. They would have stopped posting to Facebook a long time ago. The site offers less human connection these days.

johnchristopher 11y ago
> a) are travelling to some exotic or foreign locations > b) got admissions to prestigious schools or got amazing jobs > c) had a pretty picture of themselves taken What do you mean by `photos and status updates about their own lives` if these points don't match that description ?
- derefr 11y ago
  Those points are certainly a subset of "photos and status updates", but they're a very unrepresentative one, and one I personally prefer to avoid consuming. Ideally, what I want to get from people on Facebook is the kind of 'candid' talk I would get if I were to take them out for drinks—because the people I add to Facebook are exactly the people who I don't live close enough to to take out for drinks. Originally, this was what Facebook was actually used for—asynchronous catching-up. In this it was contrasted against e.g. Twitter, which was much more about broadcasting your "personal brand." These days, I feel like the place to get what you used to get from Facebook is Tumblr (at least for teenagers.) The same sort of "I'm going to sit here and whine into a pipe; you can listen if you like; we can have a back-and-forth running thread if we are all mutual friends" vibe of Facebook ca 2009.
  - randycupertino 11y ago
    From my view, here's how I'd break all the social networks out there down, though I'm sure I'm missing some: Linkedin: online resume twitter: for people to broadcast clever witticisms, suck up to their professional contacts, complain to brands. Very front line of "personal brand." Seems like people have two twitters pretty often- one for random chat about whatever and one "professional" one to push their career agendas. facebook: bragbook for social striving/status updates of vacations, jobs, new cars, cute kids, flattering photos. Also to cheer on and suck up to friends and family/like their content. Getting more and more annoying lately with political posts. Being able to block people from your newsfeed has helped with this immensely. instagram: more personal photos than facebook, less likely to be "friends" with your boss etc, also less likely to be attached to your real name, so easier to showcase your real personality/quirks. More artsy than facebook. snapchat: original video content, people are more "real" than on facebook because there is less perceived risk of people they know irl or professionally finding them and seeing all their doofy posts. Here I am riding my bike, here I am at the beach making a silly face, etc. People feel more free and less worried about it hurting their careers. More fun than facebook with the facial editing tools and stickers which seem really neat. periscope: dunno, never used it but heard it's the hip new thing about.me : I still don't understand this one. Guess it's supposed to be the landing page for all your other social medias? medium.com: starting to pick up lately, not just a place to write Open Letters to Whoever anymore! Extension of personal brand for writers. Path: dead Google plus: annoying, stupid Reddit: enjoy the anonymity, so refreshing after being forced to use the "real you" constantly on facebook etc. Surprisingly intelligent discussion and relevant content in the subs. Was actually recruited for a fantastic job off of my reddit comment history of all things! hackernews: kinda new, still learning the ropes around here but I've been loving the intelligent discussions and learning a lot. quora: Place to show off your smarts and push your personal brand. I am actually really annoyed about this because I used to answer and ask a lot of great questions on quora about embarrassing stuff (LOTR, Star trek, whatever) and then all my coworkers and professional contacts started following on me and now I feel very constrained on there. any other thoughts?
    - krinchan 11y ago
      Reddit is a massively double edged sword. I hang out in some of the video game subs like /r/3DS and /r/PS4. The communities there are nice and well moderated. Then there's /r/TheRedPill, /r/KotakuInAction, and several other bastions of racism, homophobia, and misogyny. My personal use of the site makes for a strange sort of dilemma. Unfortunately, the gaming subreddits are really the best place to keep track of all the disparate news sources for my favored platforms. :-/
- randycupertino 11y ago
  Because one is actually what's happening to them and what's going on, and the other is an artificially constructed filtered and curated content to present their absolute best selves and bragbook to their friends. I'm guilty of doing it, too.
kdamken 11y ago
Highly relevant SMBC - http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?id=4073 http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?id=4073 But who wants to make themselves look bad? To be fair, I do see occasional posts from people who are seemingly going through a perpetual rough time.
DanielBMarkham 11y ago
A FB status update is the social equivalent of meeting somebody in the hallway on your way into work. It's cordial, upbeat, shallow, and meant to convey friendliness. It is not an indication of your mental state or a diary. Yes, I understand that I'm applying my own rules, and folks are free to use it for about anything. I'm trying to share the social way the site works. As such, it actually has a function that many of both its supporters and detractors miss: it's a quick mental health check first thing in the morning. Are you able to interact in a positive way to people smiling? Do you have something light and funny to share? Can you just not be an asshole? If so, you might have a chance at being a decent human being today. If not -- might want to meditate, drink an extra cup of coffee, or whatnot. What I'm seeing, especially with your item d, is people using Facebook to virtue signal and try to express themselves in writing -- people who may have never been used to doing this in their life. So it's rough going for them. With a, b, and c, it can either be a sign of insecurity and competition or simply a way to share something innocuous and inoffensive. It depends on the pattern. One thing I've noticed -- there are a lot of really nice, quiet people in life that have a pretty freaking nasty internal dialogue going on. Getting that out in the open is probably good for them. Sucks to be reading it, though.

johnchristopher 11y ago

> a) are travelling to some exotic or foreign locations > b) got admissions to prestigious schools or got amazing jobs > c) had a pretty picture of themselves taken What do you mean by `photos and status updates about their own lives` if these points don't match that description ?

derefr 11y ago
Those points are certainly a subset of "photos and status updates", but they're a very unrepresentative one, and one I personally prefer to avoid consuming. Ideally, what I want to get from people on Facebook is the kind of 'candid' talk I would get if I were to take them out for drinks—because the people I add to Facebook are exactly the people who I don't live close enough to to take out for drinks. Originally, this was what Facebook was actually used for—asynchronous catching-up. In this it was contrasted against e.g. Twitter, which was much more about broadcasting your "personal brand." These days, I feel like the place to get what you used to get from Facebook is Tumblr (at least for teenagers.) The same sort of "I'm going to sit here and whine into a pipe; you can listen if you like; we can have a back-and-forth running thread if we are all mutual friends" vibe of Facebook ca 2009.
- randycupertino 11y ago
  From my view, here's how I'd break all the social networks out there down, though I'm sure I'm missing some: Linkedin: online resume twitter: for people to broadcast clever witticisms, suck up to their professional contacts, complain to brands. Very front line of "personal brand." Seems like people have two twitters pretty often- one for random chat about whatever and one "professional" one to push their career agendas. facebook: bragbook for social striving/status updates of vacations, jobs, new cars, cute kids, flattering photos. Also to cheer on and suck up to friends and family/like their content. Getting more and more annoying lately with political posts. Being able to block people from your newsfeed has helped with this immensely. instagram: more personal photos than facebook, less likely to be "friends" with your boss etc, also less likely to be attached to your real name, so easier to showcase your real personality/quirks. More artsy than facebook. snapchat: original video content, people are more "real" than on facebook because there is less perceived risk of people they know irl or professionally finding them and seeing all their doofy posts. Here I am riding my bike, here I am at the beach making a silly face, etc. People feel more free and less worried about it hurting their careers. More fun than facebook with the facial editing tools and stickers which seem really neat. periscope: dunno, never used it but heard it's the hip new thing about.me : I still don't understand this one. Guess it's supposed to be the landing page for all your other social medias? medium.com: starting to pick up lately, not just a place to write Open Letters to Whoever anymore! Extension of personal brand for writers. Path: dead Google plus: annoying, stupid Reddit: enjoy the anonymity, so refreshing after being forced to use the "real you" constantly on facebook etc. Surprisingly intelligent discussion and relevant content in the subs. Was actually recruited for a fantastic job off of my reddit comment history of all things! hackernews: kinda new, still learning the ropes around here but I've been loving the intelligent discussions and learning a lot. quora: Place to show off your smarts and push your personal brand. I am actually really annoyed about this because I used to answer and ask a lot of great questions on quora about embarrassing stuff (LOTR, Star trek, whatever) and then all my coworkers and professional contacts started following on me and now I feel very constrained on there. any other thoughts?
  - krinchan 11y ago
    Reddit is a massively double edged sword. I hang out in some of the video game subs like /r/3DS and /r/PS4. The communities there are nice and well moderated. Then there's /r/TheRedPill, /r/KotakuInAction, and several other bastions of racism, homophobia, and misogyny. My personal use of the site makes for a strange sort of dilemma. Unfortunately, the gaming subreddits are really the best place to keep track of all the disparate news sources for my favored platforms. :-/
randycupertino 11y ago
Because one is actually what's happening to them and what's going on, and the other is an artificially constructed filtered and curated content to present their absolute best selves and bragbook to their friends. I'm guilty of doing it, too.

kdamken 11y ago

Highly relevant SMBC - http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?id=4073 http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?id=4073 But who wants to make themselves look bad? To be fair, I do see occasional posts from people who are seemingly going through a perpetual rough time.

DanielBMarkham 11y ago

A FB status update is the social equivalent of meeting somebody in the hallway on your way into work. It's cordial, upbeat, shallow, and meant to convey friendliness. It is not an indication of your mental state or a diary. Yes, I understand that I'm applying my own rules, and folks are free to use it for about anything. I'm trying to share the social way the site works. As such, it actually has a function that many of both its supporters and detractors miss: it's a quick mental health check first thing in the morning. Are you able to interact in a positive way to people smiling? Do you have something light and funny to share? Can you just not be an asshole? If so, you might have a chance at being a decent human being today. If not -- might want to meditate, drink an extra cup of coffee, or whatnot. What I'm seeing, especially with your item d, is people using Facebook to virtue signal and try to express themselves in writing -- people who may have never been used to doing this in their life. So it's rough going for them. With a, b, and c, it can either be a sign of insecurity and competition or simply a way to share something innocuous and inoffensive. It depends on the pattern. One thing I've noticed -- there are a lot of really nice, quiet people in life that have a pretty freaking nasty internal dialogue going on. Getting that out in the open is probably good for them. Sucks to be reading it, though.