Comments on: Facebook acquaintances the new TV stars

By: Dee

Dee — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 06:16:13 +0000

“It is a strange case of schadenfreude for me to hear this, knowing that I had been jealous of their beach time and glamor”
I’m sorry, but this says far more about you than you care to admit.
If you are jealous of other people’s lives as you see them on facebook, then you really need to take a look at what you’re doing with your own life and start making it better.
And if you really feel happy to learn that casual facebook aquaintences’ lives aren’t as fabulous as they seem online, then you’re actually a really shit human being.
If you don’t actually like someone that you’re friends with on facebook, and their updates annoy you or make you jealous, yet you continue to stay friends with them on facebook, you’ve got some serious self-worth issues that need to be addressed.

By: sandyg

sandyg — Fri, 17 Dec 2010 09:43:17 +0000

I recently posted in my status update on FB that we should rename it “Bragbook” because it’s all people seem to want to do – tout their achievements or self-promote. Seems this is more common in the States than in the UK where culturally it is less acceptable to toot your own horn. Whenever I start feeling bad about my life because some of my friends *appear* to be having wonderful lives as that’s the image they want to cultivate, I remind myself that noone’s life is perfect, far from it, and those that try the hardest to appear happy and satisfied are normally the ones that are in fact the least happy and satisfied. Just like really rich people don’t wear fancy clothes or drive flash cars — because they don’t have anything to prove to anyone.

And as for baby photos – yeah the kids are cute – but as one of the few remaining out of my highschool friends yet to procreate – I am thrilled I get to sleep whenever I want and don’t have to deal with screaming temper tantrums or changing diapers, and basically devoting my life to another being. My friends who are on multiple kids must enjoy parenthood I suppose as they keep having more – or maybe they just think “sod it, I’m trapped forever now, may as well give the little bugger someone else to play with so I don’t have to spend 100% of my spare time entertaining it!”

By: Karen

Karen — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 09:35:37 +0000

Can i be permitted to share this to my social network of friends?

This struck a cord and i because it does to me, i know it will to most too. =)

By: Paul

Paul — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 02:19:17 +0000

I recently started hiding from my news feed all of my Facebook friends who I hadn’t interacted with in the past few years. I was overwhelmed with the quantity of updates from school classmates that I had fallen out of contact with, and seeing their lives in such detail made me want to recontact ALL of them. I can now stay up-to-date on everyone that I actually see in real life, and avoid being held captive by nostalgia. Hiding all game and quiz applications from the feed has also helped cut down on noise. To extend the TV analogy, it’s like being able to skip commercials.

By: BP

BP — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 15:43:33 +0000

I too try to be as real as possible, post a cornucopia of unflattering photos and generally show my life as it is, hopefully alleviating some of the sense of the deadly seriousness of it all for those that get to have a laugh at my expense. I also deleted all my friends and took a year off in ’09 to get perspective on the whole thing, and have added back a core group of friends that are witty, sardonic, real, crass, and empathetic when necessary who I’ve spent real, quality time with at some point, who I’m amazed and happy to say number nearly 300.

Facebook is a great tool and interface if you keep it in perspective and realize it’s an analog to reality, not reality itself, and that nearly everyone is fatter and less attractive than they look in their profile pic.

By: Caruso

Caruso — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 09:05:45 +0000

People on FB are boring, they’re stereotypes, they’re happy, they have tons of friends, have great vacation, great kids, go to interesting places, know how to have fun. They don’t like to appear serious, cute kittens? LIKE. Politics? silence. Bantering is good, big discussion and arguments should be avoided. I think people self-censor a lot when they post on Facebook because they’re talking to an audience made up of family, close friends, not so close friend, colleagues, ex-bf, you have to adopt a persona that fits them all : happy, positive, friendly, fun loving, trivial, seems a safe choice.

By: SharonG

SharonG — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 05:19:15 +0000

I would go as far to say that this is not a Facebook phenomenon. Much research is out there that was done on BBSs, IRC, and MUDs that all had this exact component to them; so I would say that it’s online v offline not a just a new specific brand like Facebook.

By: Jonathin

Jonathin — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 23:52:41 +0000

I like this. In fact I like it so much that I am going to share it on Facebook. My hope is that casual Facebook friends will read it and think, “hey, I wish I could find interesting stuff to read on the internet like that guy!” For me, Facebook is all about making others feel left out. I am a terrible person with no self-confidence. Good day!

By: Anne C.

Anne C. — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 23:39:41 +0000

This isn’t really new, since anyone can edit their own story (in letters, on the phone, even in person). It’s just been amplified, with pictures/video/etc.
The key, in my opinion, is to live a life you’re proud of. Take ownership of the choices you’ve made and the priorities you have. You love your job, but it doesn’t pay much, so you can’t go on exotic vacations? You prioritize your day to day happiness. You hate your job, but take exotic vacations to get away from it? You prioritize your exposure to the world over the day to day grind. You hate your job and never go anywhere? Make a change! Start small. Volunteer. See local tourist spots. Research economically feasible alternatives.
If you’re living vicariously through others on the internet (and then punishing yourself by feeling badly about it), you really ought to take a good look at what YOU can be doing about it.

By: mike

mike — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 21:04:21 +0000

Very well said. Can we be facebook friends?