What's the deal with Facebook status updates?

[Anonymous]

I just love to read about the cute things my friends' kids do, say. My friends' POV on some news article, and most of the time, a banal post will trigger a re-conect convo with some friend I haven't talked in a while.

I just learned after friending some college friends that one of my buddies is releasing his first CD with his band (they were dreaming about it during college), an old friend became a doctor after taking a break from school for being a victim of a natural disaster in our home country, things that we would never know if FB was not there.

Bottom line: I think FB is not for people like the OP.

[Anonymous]

I just learned after friending some college friends that one of my buddies is releasing his first CD with his band (they were dreaming about it during college), an old friend became a doctor after taking a break from school for being a victim of a natural disaster in our home country,

No, see, THIS stuff is worthwhile and worth sharing. The fact that you jogged 3 miles today or ate a salad or love your kitten is. not. meant. to. be. shared. with 500 people.

[Anonymous]

If you would like some more interesting stuff in your feed, friend Nycci Nellis, Prince of Petworth, Capitol Cooking and other DC bloggers for the latest and greatest!

I have found GREAT blogs because my friends have linked posts from them on Facebook.

[Anonymous]

I really can't stand posts where people just report that they went to the gym, how much they ran, how many spin classes they completed or any other exercise related posts. To me, it really comes off as boastful and validation seeking. I don't like when people 'check in' as in Susie is at the library or John is at George's Chicken Hut. And 'lifestyle' posts like "Carpooling again!" or "Off for my mani-pedi" or "Soccer mom today". Ugh. I also can't stand people who post about how tired they are of being around their children after a snow day, long weekend or at the end of summer. SO many people do this and they don't think about how that post may be read by their children some day. I do like people tell me about funny things their kids did or said, nice (special) things their spouses did for them, a special trip they took or even observations about the absurdity of life a la Seinfeld.

[Anonymous]

I have a friend who posts about her son all day long. Boring videos and updates about coupons and life of a SAHM. She bores me to tears, and I"d delete her if we didn't have mutual friends. I actually feel sorry for her, because her life is so sad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:np here. Am I reading this correctly? By my count, three people so far have said that you aren't really friends with someone if you don't care about their 3rd grader's grades or that they enjoy their new slow cooker recipe.

Uh, bullshit. I'm with you OP.

No, it's not that you aren't real life friends with them, but it sounds like you aren't good candidates for being Facebook "friends". Just hide their statuses.

They are boring on Facebook. Maybe they aren't as boring in real life, or they have other redeeming qualities.

Although OP said she had 150 FB friends. Personally I cannot imagine wanting to have that many Facebook friends, anyhow. That could be part of the problem. Only read posts from people you genuinely care about and find interesting.

[Anonymous]

Many people I know have work-out buddies on FB. So some of the "I ran 3 miles" posts may be aimed at attaining a fitness goal with other friends of theirs on FB.

[Anonymous]

What I love are the posts that are thinly disguised attempts to solicit compliments, like "I only ran ten miles today...must be getting old." And inevitably others will chime in to boost the poster's ego. It's amusing, but also sad.

[Anonymous]

I do post stautus updates like, "heading to the park" or "out to the pool with the kids". I assume my college friends in another state could not be less interested to know this, but I have about 20 in town friends with kids, and they might see this info and be interested in meeting us.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Many people I know have work-out buddies on FB. So some of the "I ran 3 miles" posts may be aimed at attaining a fitness goal with other friends of theirs on FB.

That's what the filtered lists are for.

I have a list that includes everyone except my tea-bagging relatives down south. Another that excludes professional contacts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I agree with 18:50 and 19:36! I used to love to talk on the phone with my friends about nothing at all, but now I can't do that and don't have the interest anymore anyway. But I do enjoy going on FB and seeing what everyone is doing. Some people really have the knack for posting seemingly mundane things that are interesting to read and fun to share -- and what else is there in life but the mundane things we do in a day? I don't post as much as some people but I hope no one wonders why I post just because I don't have anything particularly amazing to say.

The only postsers that bother me are the ones who post all day long or who use 20 exclamation marks; really bothers me if they use them after an "LOL." Not sure why that is considered acceptable on facebook. Are these people laughing hysterically because they are high or what?

I agree, pp. It's a great way to find out what people are doing without having to talk to them and listen to them talk about their morning run. I have recently been friended by old friends from high school and one of them occasionally talks about her belief in a Christian god which I don't share at this point in my life. I enjoy reading her posts but I wouldn't care to talk to her about this and I don't think we'd be great friends if she lived in DC. But I'm very happy for her and am glad to know what she is doing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have a friend who posts about her son all day long. Boring videos and updates about coupons and life of a SAHM. She bores me to tears, and I"d delete her if we didn't have mutual friends. I actually feel sorry for her, because her life is so sad.

Why don't you just block her updates? You can do that without her knowing and without de-friending her. If you want an update you have to go to her page, otherwise it doesn't show up in your news feed. I've done with that people who post too much.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, if you don't care about your friend's kids, their efforts to live a healthy life or their silly things seems like they're not really your friends and like a PP already said, FB is not for you...

For your own sanity, please just quit using it.

You're in your 40's so why not join a knitting club or a bingo group to entertain yourself and keep your mind sharp to avoid early onset of senile illnesses?

lololol

[Anonymous]

You can be friends with people and still be annoyed by the updates. I have about 30 people who will give status updates on their flights. They are salespeople and they are on planes constantly. I love some of them, but I don't need to know that they are sitting in a Starbucks because their plane is late due to weather.

In general, if it's something you do 3x a week, every week, it's not worth an update.

[Anonymous]

I think some of your complaints illustrate the difference between FB and email though. Most of my friends have like 150 or so FB friends, some of have a ton more, some have less. So when someone is posting a status update, they really aren't talking to you or me, they are talking to a bunch of people. If someone is emailing you that info about their flight, where they are eating, their running stats, that's annoying. On FB, it's fair game.

When my college bud posts four posts about her kid being really excited about her 7th birthday, it's not for me, who has never met her kid. It's clearly for grandparents, siblings, close friends etc., who are all over the posts and react and respond to every one. A bunch of people care, because she's getting a lot of responses. I don't really, but I don't fault her because hey, I'm on FB and I could just scan through and skip.

I personally avoid this by having a private blog about my kid that my parents and in-laws and a few other relatives eat up. They can't get enough, but I know they are the only ones going to the blog. That way, I can only post about my kid on FB about once every two months or so!

I think if you don't want to hear about the mundane, FB is not a good activity. I love knowing something funny or seeing pics of people from my past who I'm curious about and always liked, but wouldn't be keeping in touch with otherwise.