I had 2 close friends pass away and 1 I have not picture of us together, the other I have 1 because I posted it on FB.

Insta and FB help me see what my friends and family are doing... my family is very large and impossible to track... just found out my nephew moved from instagram post. I have over 25 nieces and nephews.

I enjoy seeing them and looking at them and so do my friends.

I'm not doing anything that amazing so no need to be jealous.

I also print a photo album yearly from it.

why does anybody take pictures? Why do cameras even exist?

I agree OP. And I participated in this activity 10+ years ago when I was in my late 20s/early 30s. It was absolutely an effort to show people that I was popular and had friends, that I was busy and interesting. It was for exes, coworkers, old classmates, etc., to show them "look at me, my life is very lively and socially successful."

Once I realized that was what I was doing, I stopped. I also discovered that when I stopped posting like this to social media, some of these activities became less appealing to me and I stopped attending some of them. The biggest thing to fall by the wayside was the kind of big group "girls night" dinner where like 10 women of varying levels of friendship get dressed up and dine at a trendy restaurant and take photos and post them. It turns out I never enjoyed them! They were often unnecessarily expensive, it was common for various people to under-contribute to the bill, and often there would be several people at the dinner who were unpleasant to me or engaged in weird behaviors like competing with me to prove how was better friends with another woman or something stupid. I am so glad I don't participate in this stuff anymore!

I'm glad I stopped participating in this before I had kids, because I now never feel the compulsion to post photos of my kids or family events in order to, again, show how interesting and active we are. When I have the urge to share photos of my kids, I text them to friends and family who I think might actually be interested in, for instance, a pic of them in Halloween costumes or my DD at her ballet recital. I don't try to use my kids to project a personal brand of some kind, and I'm grateful for that.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Those reasons and probably several others.

It's pathetic. Whatever.

+1 and it seems like most people have woken up and realized how stupid it is.

I have noticed this too. It's great.

Only the most insecure people I know continue to share all these outings. Many more did when social media was new. But now? No way. It’s sad.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Those reasons and probably several others.

It's pathetic. Whatever.

+1 and it seems like most people have woken up and realized how stupid it is.

I have noticed this too. It's great.

Why not?

I sometimes feel the same knee-jerk reaction when I see these types of posts, OP, but I also ask myself, what is an appropriate use of "social" media? What are people allowed to share?

Based on the way everyone there reposts the photos of the main photo takers, I always assumed it was to share joy with the people who attended. Seems pretty innocuous to me, even when the people involved are the clique-y and somewhat catty types.

I usually do unfollow people who post a lot of that stuff, because it's irrelevant to me. But I'm glad it brings them joy.

Because women in this country have freedom. Giving women the vote is what lead to this fiasco.

Because some of us use Facebook as our diaries and photo albums. That is all. Judge away: it’s not going to change. I love the convenience

If it makes you feel bad, do something about it. This isn't about you, so to internalize it is just weird.

FB and social media is now a bit like a public diary. I do like the annual reminders when they come around... vacations, outings with friends. They make me smile.

The answer OP is relevancy. People yearn and some even deeply need to feel relevant. Posting that they are out and about and with others helps them feel relevant.
These are the same people who will struggle more in their later years when relevancy is not attainable due to old age. I have seen this so many times.

Anonymous wrote:Those reasons and probably several others.

It's pathetic. Whatever.

+1 and it seems like most people have woken up and realized how stupid it is.

Those reasons and probably several others.

It's pathetic. Whatever.

The actual question is "why are you bothered by something like this and how does sit impact you at all?" Are you lonely and wish you had friends?

Like, a group of friends going out for drinks or at a party?
I admit I see these and get FOMO -- even if I'm not close with the people in the photo!
Is it to stoke envy? Assert a place in the social hierarchy? Just cluelessness or the authentic drive to share joy?