<p>Just remember… a rich man doesn’t need to tell you he’s rich.</p>
<p>I try to only post head shots of myself so my old high school friends don’t see how much weight I need to lose: However once in a while DH will post a picture of me with one of the kids… ugh. </p>
<p>Seriously though there are always going to be people that try and make things look better than they really are.</p>
<p>Id rather read about someones achievements, than to hear about every ache and pain and to be asked for money so they can build a new wing onto their garage ir send their parakeet to summer camp.
;)</p>
<p>A college student - you are right I sound pretty uncaring. Maybe it is the context. I think Facebook made me realize exactly how self absorbed she was and how she was not interested in anyone else. So -I guess it was her really that I was irritated with- and not the chickens. Which I think wound up not surviving. She got them without proper research and care. </p>
<p>I think people tend to display the happy moments in their lives. I enjoy the prom and graduation pictures, many are children of friends who live far away from me. I also have some elderly relatives who are on FB in order to see pictures of family members. I just assume that these posts are skewed towards the good times. Everyone has ups and downs but few of us would consider making everything public. </p>
<p>I agree with Pennylane. I’m happy to see people’s good times–I want people to be happy (I’m such a Pollyanna–lol). </p>
<p>My personal pet peeve, though, is the canned “post this for an hour if you agree with this cause/opinion/sentiment” which ends along the lines of “ninety percent of you won’t; I bet I know who will” or “I hope I’m wrong” or some such insulting language. What a rotten way to view your friends. I honestly don’t think people are taking note of the boilerplate language, but yeah, I don’t repost those–I am not going to insult MY friends. </p>
<p>I, too, roll my eyes daily at the FB postings thanking God for everything from butterflies to pantyhose. Kids who do average things that become above average when posted on FB. Angsty young adults posting ambiguous things about how miserable 17 year old life is or (the opposite) posting how wonderful their BF/GF is and they cannot imagine life before that person (note to never friend anyone under 25 again).</p>
<p>My favorite post by far though was yesterday. A 30-something single girl I know posted a pic of texts from her ex-BF asking for a hook up. Apparently though, he has a new GF (who he cheated on my friend with) and so my friend thoughtfully posted these texts, tagged the guy and said “I hope your new GF is aware that you are texting me in the middle of the night”. I have to admit I was pretty amused by this.</p>
<p>I too get annoyed by the vague-booking (thanks for the handle for that one!!!), the political rants (though I must admit I have jumped in there a couple of times) and by the “if you are a good person you will post this to your wall for an hour…though I know 99 percent of you won’t do it….” posts. But FB can be a wonderful way to stay in touch or to re-connect. My DH and I went to HS together and our 40th reunion is this year (in another state). The people who are in charge of that have started a FB page and patiently went through the yearbook and have found and posted “Then and now” pictures of most everyone (and we had around 300 people in our class!!). Also did tributes to those who have passed away. Through FB, we have re-connected as a class and now I look forward to attending the reunion! Actually, I feel like I know people from my class better than I did even in HS….</p>
<p>I tend to use Facebook to post humorous things in our daily life - like the random plastic flamingo that happened to show up in our yard one morning last weekend - and then occasional vacation pics, special family moments. </p>
<p>Agree with the poster above who said they get weary of seeing “friends” use FB for what I will call “attention” - things like saying “Ugh - this week can’t get any worse” - but giving no indication why or else begging for attention why! I also have one friend/neighbor who does child care at home who CONSTANTLY posts how much she hates her job and is unhappy. And she is friends on FB with some of her child care kids families! - yikes!</p>
<p>I find that I am enjoying Instagram even more than FB at times. A picture speaks a thousand words and on Instagram you don’t have to “talk” about it, just “like” it. Its fun to see visuals/pics insight in the daily lives of friends/family/celebs. </p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Haha, not all of them but definitely some. There is one particular person that seems so insane, I actually considered making sure that they were ok, and suggest they seek counseling. But considering I haven’t spoken to this person IRL for almost 40 years, I might not be the right person for the job!</p>
<p>I like the prom photos & general newsy posts & respect any attempt at humor, even if it falls flat. But any “friend” who tries to sell me anything, promote their business, etc is going to find themselves unfriended in a hurry.</p>
<p>“How is it that everyone with whom I went to high school is now a lunatic?”</p>
<p>…and how did they all get so OLD? ;-)</p>
<p>I agree that overall, I am grateful for the re-connection with people from the past, mainly high school, that I’d lost t ouch with. also some cousins and other friends. I am way more connected to people who were only Christmas card connected in the past. I think for me the upsides definitely outweigh the silliness.</p>
<p>I like it too. And I do post the prom pics an graduation pics and even brag a little now and then but only for legitimately exciting things. I balance it with very unglamorous but funny (or so I’ve been told) posts about mundane things.
My kids hate if I post about them so I have to ask permission and keep it very straightforward.
I do like seeing other people’s news but get irritated by particular people. I have one friend from high school who has three kids and she posts at least three times a day about the youngest and her “accomplishments”. I’m sure she is a very nice and competent girl but some of the stuff she posts is so mundane. She reports these things in a frenetic and hysterically proud way that just sounds, well, nuts. And we hear very little about the older two kids. </p>
<p>I don’t mind the bragging pictures in small doses. What I don’t like are the minute by minute updates of which restaurant you ate in, where you stopped for a potty break on the way to your kid’s graduation ( I kid you not!), when you arrived at said college, when you met with all the relatives at the ceremony, when and where the whole clan went for dinner after the ceremony, and on and on.</p>
<p>I seem to get deluged with posts of links to a recipe. Even friends of mine who NEVER post have posted a link to a recipe, which leads me to believe it’s very easy to accidentally click something that posts this.</p>
<p>I also have a “friend” who consistently posts negative, woe is me, posts, to solicit pity or attention. I know I should unfriend her, but because the relationship is tied to a facebook group I’m a member of, I’m not comfortable doing that.</p>
<p>I very rarely post anything on FB unless it’s especially good news. Just recently I posted that my daughter was accepted at two schools for her master’s program. Little did I know that two days later she would receive a tuition waver at the Technical University of Denmark. So…I posted that good news. Little did I know that a week later, she would be named a Fulbright Scholar to that school. So…I posted again. If only I would have known, I would have waited until she was awarded the Fulbright before posting anything. I felt like I was calling too much attention to my life, but when your kid gets a Fulbright, you just have to post.</p>
<p>Re the trip to graduation–I was tempted to jocularly post–"here we are on at the commuter train " “here we are in Penn Station” “here we are on the Subway” but refrained. I did put up enough pictures of S just to make sure everyone knew he’d graduated (long story told here elsewhere.) but yeah, i’ts possible to overdue. I think a Fulbright warrants all possible posting!</p>
<p>I did have friends who took a cross-country drive from NJ to CO for their S’s graduation, and pics of that were fun to follow along with.</p>
<p>I only even have a facebook account so that I can spy on my kid.</p>
<p>I love having Facebook to keep up with far flung family. I would never be as close to my grown nieces and nephews and their children without it. I post happy things and pics from good events and trips. I don’t like the posts that seem to be just for pity although nephew’s wife’s posts did alert us to a major health issues developing, and when it was successfully cured. We could keep up and send support without them having to call everyone separately. I have unfollowed some though for their political rants. I don’t unfriend so I can cruise out to their page if I want to see pics of the kids. </p>
<p>I’ve reconnected with a good percentage of my high school class. That’s how I have learned that at least five of my classmates have already passed away! Some of these Facebook friends have made comments about how much they respected me in high school (I did well academically), which blows me away, because I was very unpopular and got teased a lot!</p>
<p>Our extended family posts the moment an expected birth or death has actually occurred. News moves fast and wide. Some start making travel plans from it, and everyone chimes in. </p>
<p>What bothers me a lot is deathbed hospital photos, taken as Selfies by one relative visiting another relative. Seems like a major privacy invasion, and I question what kind of consent was given by the infirm person.</p>
<p>I’m not a fan of the Ultrasound images to update family on the progress of a pregnancy.</p>
<p>But seeing a home video of my niece’s daughter 1,000 miles away learn to read – priceless! </p>