Do you really want to know? I mean REALLY??

[TravelingGal]

I know many of us are on networking sites. My question is, how much do you REALLY enjoy the updates?

I have two FB accounts. One for my IRL friends and another for a small group of PS moms so we can post pics of the kiddies. Interestingly, I am on my PSFB account far more, and enjoy it.

But when it comes to my IRL account, ack! All the people I would really be interested in hearing about their lives, for some reason never update. The ones who are updating tell me what they are eating, if they have bad gas, 100''s of pics of their kids that weren''t even picked through and dumped straight from the camera to FB.

I have to wonder...WHY do people think others are interested in the minutiae of their lives? Is it ego? Boredom? Attention seeking?

OR...ARE people REALLY interested in that stuff?

Gak. I miss the days when people would call to catch up. Or even head to dinner. I''ve actually heard people catch up in person by saying, "You say my FB updates, right?"

 

[Shoopy]

FACT:

My cousin posted an update the other day that said: On the couch, kitchen table, and bathroom counter.

I only FB from my Blackberry (don''t have internet at home) so I don''t get alerts for games and thought this was another game.

It was not and whatever it is that you are imagining in your head as to what she could mean by that status is EXACTLY what it meant

I have an internal battle with my own status updates. I have a lot of PS mom friends on there so I post updates on DD all the time. But I also have a lot of single or newlywed friends and coworkers that don''t really care too much about what puree my DD loved so I wonder if they get annoyed by it. But when I put a regular update I wonder if my PS mom friends are going

, I don''t get it.

LOL

 

[TravelingGal]

Date: 2/10/2010 6:51:50 PM
Author: fiery
FACT:

My cousin posted an update the other day that said: On the couch, kitchen table, and bathroom counter.

I only FB from my Blackberry (don''t have internet at home) so I don''t get alerts for games and thought this was another game.

It was not and whatever it is that you are imagining in your head as to what she could mean by that status is EXACTLY what it meant

I have an internal battle with my own status updates. I have a lot of PS mom friends on there so I post updates on DD all the time. But I also have a lot of single or newlywed friends and coworkers that don''t really care too much about what puree my DD loved so I wonder if they get annoyed by it. But when I put a regular update I wonder if my PS mom friends are going

, I don''t get it.

LOL

Fiery, a few of us had this discussion on FB. You can create a list of your PS mom friends and just post the status so THEY can see it. Separate them from your IRL friends and post your regular updates to them only.

 

[jewelz617]

I use FB to keep in touch with friends and family out of state. Mine is pretty stark, but I try to update my status like once a week and post pics of my daughter for DH's parents who live 12 hours away. I don't care what anyone else chooses to put on their FB page, to each their own. I read the pages of people I care about but overlook most of it.

 

[Shoopy]

Really? I didn''t know that. I''m going to try to log on to a computer at some point and work on that. Although I''m not too worried about it from a privacy standpoint. I just wonder if they really want to hear that the Turnpike has a crash and people should avoid it lol. Thanks for the tip.

 

[Haven]

No, I don''t really want to know.

I love Facebook for keeping in touch with my out-of-state and out-of-country friends and family. I love looking at my sister''s pictures from her year in rabbinical school out in Jerusalem, and my dear friend''s pictures from his time working in the White House. That''s about it, though.

You can make it so you don''t see certain people''s status updates. I don''t know how he did it, but DH shut off a bunch for me because some of my friends'' updates were puke-worthy and I just didn''t want to see them anymore.

I don''t know what it is that drives people to over share. I imagine that a lot of my friends who post throughout the day are driven to FB out of sheer boredom. Others, who knows? Maybe some people feel like they forge an identity for themselves out of the compilation of stuff they put out there.

I typically only update my status when I''m supporting a friend''s philanthropy or business, so I can put a link out there to help increase traffic.

 

[luckystar112]

Date: 2/10/2010 6:51:50 PM
Author: fiery
FACT:

My cousin posted an update the other day that said: On the couch, kitchen table, and bathroom counter.

I only FB from my Blackberry (don''t have internet at home) so I don''t get alerts for games and thought this was another game.

It was not and whatever it is that you are imagining in your head as to what she could mean by that status is EXACTLY what it meant

I have an internal battle with my own status updates. I have a lot of PS mom friends on there so I post updates on DD all the time. But I also have a lot of single or newlywed friends and coworkers that don''t really care too much about what puree my DD loved so I wonder if they get annoyed by it. But when I put a regular update I wonder if my PS mom friends are going

, I don''t get it.

LOL

There was a stupid message floating around recently that girls got in their inbox. It went something like, "Hey girls, bra color thing was such a great success! Let''s throw the guys off even more by posting where we put our purse when we get home!"

So lots of people had posts like your cousins, and the innuendo was intentional. Could her status update have had anything to do with that?

Anyway, yeah.....my favorite button is the "Hide" button. You hover your mouse over an annoying status-updater and it will appear. It allows you to hide all of that person''s status messages.

 

[Shoopy]

Date: 2/10/2010 7:16:00 PM
Author: luckystar112

There was a stupid message floating around recently that girls got in their inbox. It went something like, ''Hey girls, bra color thing was such a great success! Let''s throw the guys off even more by posting where we put our purse when we get home!''

So lots of people had posts like your cousins, and the innuendo was intentional. Could her status update have had anything to do with that?

Anyway, yeah.....my favorite button is the ''Hide'' button. You hover your mouse over an annoying status-updater and it will appear. It allows you to hide all of that person''s status messages.

That makes soooooo much more sense! Thank you so much for explaining lol!

I know some people (mainly guys) said things along the lines of it being sexual and she never corrected them so that''s why I assummed.

I never get into games because I don''t see these alerts on my blackberry. I just see the updates. The bra color one confused me for a very long time and I thought it meant something to do with your mood.

 

[sparklyheart]

I think they are pretty annoying most of the time! If it is something that has happened like finally finishing school, finding out your pregnant, etc then I like those for friends I don''t talk to very often. I don''t care about your kids green snot that you woke up to or what you just bought/ate/ordered to eat/watched. I actually have a friend who gave up facebook for Lent last year because she was so addicted.. It''s getting to be a bit much...

 

[April20]

I love FB for the reasons many others have posted. I have family and friends out of state and keep up with them more via FB than I ever did before. That being said, I''ve been friended by a number of acquaintances I''ve know from the town where I grew up. These are people I may or may not see when I go back and quite frankly, don''t need to know the minutia of their lives. I try not to post the minutia of mine. I''ve had to use the "ignore" button on at least three people because their status updates were so, so obnoxious. I really need to just delete them from my friend list, but ever since I hit that ignore button, I''d honestly forgotten I haven''t done it until now.

I think FB, like any tool, can be used for good and used for, well, EVIL. And some people just don''t realize they''re evil.

 

[yssie]

Date: 2/10/2010 7:09:43 PM
Author: Haven
No, I don't really want to know.

I love Facebook for keeping in touch with my out-of-state and out-of-country friends and family. I love looking at my sister's pictures from her year in rabbinical school out in Jerusalem, and my dear friend's pictures from his time working in the White House. That's about it, though.

You can make it so you don't see certain people's status updates. I don't know how he did it, but DH shut off a bunch for me because some of my friends' updates were puke-worthy and I just didn't want to see them anymore.

I don't know what it is that drives people to over share. I imagine that a lot of my friends who post throughout the day are driven to FB out of sheer boredom. Others, who knows? Maybe some people feel like they forge an identity for themselves out of the compilation of stuff they put out there.

I typically only update my status when I'm supporting a friend's philanthropy or business, so I can put a link out there to help increase traffic.

Yup, pretty much


Fortunately I'm still close enough to the people whose lives I'm interested in to call and email when fun things happen - I've definitely gotten better about keeping in touch with people. from my FB forays via FI's account - no, I just really don't want to know! He seems to go on once a month or so, so I'm guessing he doesn't either..

 

[icekid]

For the most part, NO I don''t want to know either. But there are some people I do want to know about.. and some who have absolutely hilarious updates when they do post. The rest, I just click ignore

 

[monarch64]

YES--to the "hide" function. I use it when I just can''t take any more updates on bodily functions of children, details of mundane daily activities, song lyrics as "updates," and the like. Sometimes I feel a bit guilty about doing it, but the offenders typically fall into those categories and stay there invariably so after several "omg there is baby food everywhere and the diaper is the same color" updates from one person I hit the old "hide" button.

I try to exercise a "less is more" approach to updates myself. I do not think I do anything typically fascinating enough to warrant updating my status with it, with the exception of certain Friday nights when I''m home and have maybe had an "extra" glass of wine.

But then I tend to post silly questions as my updates and gather data from other FBr''s who just might be doing the same. It''s like when DancingFire posts threads in Hangout to compile data for his random research. Hee hee.

 

[MichelleCarmen]

I always forget that I have a FB account. Or, actually, two. I set up one for my cat, too. . .He''s now up to 398 friends (about 350 are cats).

 

[radiantquest]

I have a FB account that I rarely check on. I agree and I do not care about the nonsense that some people think is important. I have it so that I can check and see how long distance friends are doing. Sometimes I will comment on someone elses update, but I never update my status. I have a friend/ex-coworker that had a baby very early due to complications. The baby is in serious condition and she keeps constant updates on FB on the baby. Her most recent one is that now his IV is in his scalp now because it kept coming out and he is getting another blood transfusion. It is so sad and she is such a trooper. I thought that it was inappropriate to update about that, but I guess it is pretty smart because everyone gets the message instantly and she doesnt have to keep repeating what is going on with him.

 

[Cehrabehra]

I dunno - I only have one FB account and I love that I can merge all of my worlds into one place. I lived a separatist life for years posting on aol message boards and having family email accounts and friend ones and online friend ones and etc. Heaven forbid a real friend and an online friend search and find out about each other!! lol But after having my online aol friends for over a decade now, merging them totally into my real life was seamless and easy. I now have everyone in one place and I''m 99% happy with it. the only 1% I''m not happy with is that I would like to be able to swear more freely and there are a few people I feel like I need to reign it in for lol Family, friends from elementary and high schools I haven''t seen in years, online friends, close friends I left behind at various places in the world, new friends here in China... as for safety I figure I am probably still more safe here than I am leaving the grocery store late at night and being followed home. Celebrities (major and minor - national, international, and local) have to deal with this on a full time basis - I seriously doubt anyone cares about lil ol me.

As for what is interesting and what isn''t... I just take the good and ignore the bad. A lot of my friends are living through me vicariously on my adventure in China so much of the conversations I''ve been in have been on the deeper side and not about "I''m making myself a pot of tea". I have one friend who is all about the social networking and she''s updating from her phone at least 10x a day AND however much she does on tweeter (I suspect more but I don''t tweet). About 1 of those is usually worth responding to. The people who never have anything interesting to say have been knocked down on my meter thing to "don''t tell me about them" and the people who always have something interesting to say are bumped up.

I am not apologetic about how I spend my time and thankfully I have enough people to provide me with more than enough interesting stuff and I love it when they make friends with each other - it''s happened several times and it just gives me such a glow to see my wide circle closing ranks

 

[KimberlyH]

Yes, I want to know what people eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner, if they slept well the night before, how many trips to the bathroom they made that day, how many beers they drank at bowling, who they talked to and where they keep their purse. It''s why I have over 500 facebook friends, just to remind myself how many people I know and get lost in the minutae of their lives. It makes me feel important.

 

[Cehrabehra]

Date: 2/10/2010 6:51:50 PM
Author: fiery
FACT:


My cousin posted an update the other day that said: On the couch, kitchen table, and bathroom counter.


I only FB from my Blackberry (don''t have internet at home) so I don''t get alerts for games and thought this was another game.


It was not and whatever it is that you are imagining in your head as to what she could mean by that status is EXACTLY what it meant

I have an internal battle with my own status updates. I have a lot of PS mom friends on there so I post updates on DD all the time. But I also have a lot of single or newlywed friends and coworkers that don''t really care too much about what puree my DD loved so I wonder if they get annoyed by it. But when I put a regular update I wonder if my PS mom friends are going

, I don''t get it.


LOL

I struggle a little with what you said in the last part here - being truly authentic. My goal is to BE fully authentic but my fully authentic self says the F word freely at times and my not so fully authentic self censors it on my FB lol Okay so that''s not puree - but I vote to be yourself and if people are bored with that they''re welcome not to read. We all evolve, our interests evolve, our focus changes... attract the people who are where you are right now - that''s a good thing!

 

[Cehrabehra]

Date: 2/10/2010 6:56:42 PM
Author: fiery
Really? I didn't know that. I'm going to try to log on to a computer at some point and work on that. Although I'm not too worried about it from a privacy standpoint. I just wonder if they really want to hear that the Turnpike has a crash and people should avoid it lol. Thanks for the tip.

I would only use that feature if you're talking about something private to your baby group or something - otherwise you miss out on being of interest to someone - you may have a male coworker whose wife could find the info about baby puree helpful - I dunno! lol Maybe someone who has been there done that and is generally no longer interested in baby stuff could still have a helpful hint from back in the day to share

 

[iheartscience]

Ha, agreed! That''s why I love the "Hide" button! I haven''t hidden too many people, but I do hide every single stupid Farmville/quiz/whatever update that appears on my News Feed.

I''m with you, too, Cehra-I''m sick of all the old people on Facebook! I don''t particularly want to be friends with my in-laws (or even my own parents!) on Facebook but I feel like I can''t deny their friend requests. I''m thinking about putting them on the limited profile thing...

 

[Laila619]

I like and enjoy them for the most part, except the moms on my feed who only post endless crap about their kids' eating and potty habits. Oy!

Seriously, no one wants to read that Billy went potty on the big boy toilet today, lol.

 

[katamari]

I definitely hide or unfriend anyone who is always whining, being cryptic, or participate in the -ville or -war games.

Otherwise, though, I am fine with these posts. At least with my friends, it spares us the mundane conversations and actually improves our time together. Since we''ve already "heard" the work rants, know what big plans are in the works, and are up-to-date on what they''ve been doing we don''t have to clutter our actual conversations with them. I can read about someone''s work frustrations selectively in about 3 seconds, but if I have to hear it in person, it can go on, and on, and on. . .

 

[Cehrabehra]

Date: 2/10/2010 8:52:20 PM
Author: Laila619
I like and enjoy them for the most part, except the moms on my feed who only post endless crap about their kids'' eating and potty habits. Oy!

Seriously, no one wants to read that Billy went potty on the big boy toilet today, lol.

actually I disagree - when I made all of my online mommy friends 10 years ago we used to have entire threads about potty training - a post about a success was shared by all! So while I totally get that anyone not interested in the topic could easily think no one could possibly be interested in the topic - it''s not true.

 

[Cehrabehra]

another suggestion to you guys is GROUPS - for example. The group of moms that I met 10 years ago on the message boards - I''m not friends with all of them - but we are all in a group together that is pretty active and acts like a shared and private message board. No one outside of the group can read any of it and everyone in the group has access to everything on the group page. You don''t have to be FRIENDS with anyone in the group and the people you share the group with cannot see the stuff on your page unless you have your privacy settings set to include your groups.

You do get a lot of people from your group who wants to be your friend but I just ignore the ones I don''t genuinely want to befriend. I''ve had people I have no relationship with want to just lookyloo in my life - kinda creepy!

 

[Brown.Eyed.Girl]

Date: 2/10/2010 8:28:05 PM
Author: thing2of2
Ha, agreed! That''s why I love the ''Hide'' button! I haven''t hidden too many people, but I do hide every single stupid Farmville/quiz/whatever update that appears on my News Feed.


I''m with you, too, Cehra-I''m sick of all the old people on Facebook! I don''t particularly want to be friends with my in-laws (or even my own parents!) on Facebook but I feel like I can''t deny their friend requests. I''m thinking about putting them on the limited profile thing...

+1 on hiding all the quiz/Farmville stuff.

If every other update from someone has something to do with a FB app they''re playing games on or whatever, I hide that person.

I really don''t care what people post about - sometimes it leads me to interesting articles or starts conversations with people I haven''t talked to in awhile - unless it''s really annoying.

Case in point, there was a couple - I''m friends with both of them - who posted the most sickening puke-worthy "omg I love you so so much and I''m thinking about you 899237592387523987432 minutes of every day omg omg!" messages on each others'' walls EVERYDAY. Yeah, that was not good.

ETA: Laila, a TON of girls from high school recently had babies. I don''t mind the updates so much, but I just dont'' want to see the pictures of their babies with brownish poo-looking food smeared all over their faces

 

[Cehrabehra]

Date: 2/10/2010 9:02:55 PM
Author: katamari
I definitely hide or unfriend anyone who is always whining, being cryptic, or participate in the -ville or -war games.


Otherwise, though, I am fine with these posts. At least with my friends, it spares us the mundane conversations and actually improves our time together. Since we''ve already ''heard'' the work rants, know what big plans are in the works, and are up-to-date on what they''ve been doing we don''t have to clutter our actual conversations with them. I can read about someone''s work frustrations selectively in about 3 seconds, but if I have to hear it in person, it can go on, and on, and on. . .

this is true too - I am a FB fan in general. It''s easy enough to ignore the BS.

 

[that_someone_special]

Most of my FB friends do updates like I do (constantly and about nothing) so it doesn''t bother me.

However, I''ve noticed that I don''t like being on the phone anymore (used to love it) and prefer if people text or email me

probably not a good thing.
I am probably online (with my phone and computer) too much. If I don''t respond to fb event invites RIGHTTHISSECOND people get kinda pissy!


Hmmm.. perhaps a FB break... but then my crops would die...

 

[MonkeyPie]

I end up having enough conversations from comments after my status updates that I can only assume I am not a boring status updater lol. But then, if somebody thinks my update is boring, they don''t have to comment or anything, they can just skim past it. I have a few "friends" that are really people I knew briefly in school that post a lot of stuff I just don''t have a desire to comment on, but so that I don''t miss something that may actually be of importance, I just skim past them.

I''m not so impatient or easily irritated that I hide updates from anybody, or get annoyed by them. I just ignore them if they are boring to me!

But then...I do try not to post about my bodily functions, other than to say my back hurts or something lol.

 

[Laila619]

Cehra,

In my friend's case, the exact thing she posted was 'Billy went poop on the toilet today!!!!'

I hope none of her friends were eating when they read her 'update.'

 

[Should Be Studying]

Date: 2/10/2010 8:52:20 PM
Author: Laila619
I like and enjoy them for the most part, except the moms on my feed who only post endless crap about their kids' eating and potty habits. Oy!

Seriously, no one wants to read that Billy went potty on the big boy toilet today, lol.

I know someone who chooses to mobile upload pictures of her child's potty time...including pictures of her sitting on the potty and then what's left in the potty when she gets up.

I think she should have her facebook taken away. lol

I also don't get why people always feel the need to tell me they are "at the gym." If you are at the gym, then please get off facebook and start working out!