4 ms·
Recently I have gone from posting nearly nothing on Facebook, to posting daily. I have been spending 1 year abroad, and have gotten into a gimmicky habit: I'm k
by jganetsk 14y ago
Recently I have gone from posting nearly nothing on Facebook, to posting daily. I have been spending 1 year abroad, and have gotten into a gimmicky habit: I'm keeping a friends-only travel diary on my Facebook wall. Everyday, at around the same time, I write my "daily recap". I am living in London, and also travelling extensively all over Europe, and am showing this off to my friends. I'm one of the worst offenders of an asshole friend on Facebook, as I literally am jetting off somewhere exotic every weekend. And, I spend a great deal of time thinking about what I'm going to post, so I'm a case of someone obsessively preoccupied with Facebook. I also care a lot about likes and comments. However, I generally seem to be adding value to the lives of me and my friends. I strive for honesty, astuteness, eloquence and humor. The tone ranges from triumphant to hysterical. I get constant feedback about my status updates, both in real life and online. People seem to appreciate them. Several have recommended that I publish. A number of fiends have mentioned they are envious, but only one depressingly so. A few have mentioned that they look forward to reading them everyday. I feel leashed to doing this, at this point, and am not going to stop until my year is over. Am I making people miserable with this? I would love to know. Do I have an unhealthy obsession? Am I being narcissistic? Possibly. Sometimes I think I have twisted Facebook on its head, and have discovered how it really should be used: by putting all my effort into writing high-quality posts.
- jacquesm 14y agoWhat is the point of all this? Would you still travel if you couldn't update your friends about it in near real time? Don't you feel that the time spent on writing/contemplating what to write on the facebook pages would be better spent enjoying yourself in your new destination, making contact with people there rather than keeping score? If it's just a weekend that's barely time enough to take in a new place (for me).
- deleted 14y ago[deleted]
- tedunangst 14y agoHow long does it take to write up a funny story that happened over the past weekend? Five minutes? What other more awesome things are you going to be doing on the train back from the airport?
- jacquesm 14y agoLook out of the train, talk to people.
- jganetsk 14y agoI worry that I'm not writing enough. One day, my life is going to become jarringly mundane again. I'm going to have nothing from my trip but my memories, photos, and my travel diary. And my memories will fade quickly. A travel buddy of mine captures detailed stories in his notebook, while I just write short-to-medium length quips for Facebook. The entire social media layer I have added to my diary complicates things. I think the feedback actually helps me hone my writing, and I love the conversations and validation it generates, but I'm also concerned about my desire to entertain people. It makes me hold back my true feelings a bit, as sometimes my most honest posts are also the least liked.
- mailshanx 14y agoInteresting! Can i subscribe to your feed?