Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A friend who does humanitarian work in Afghanistan with women and children. She really has something important to say but does it in a matter of fact, truthful way, and she doesn't refer or imply that she is a hero... which in fact she is. Puts all of our first world crap in perspective. No, the fact that these children are hungry and cold doesn't negate the fact that the tuna sandwich you bought for lunch was yucky or that your office was chilly, but makes you think twice about posting such nonsense.

OP here- thanks; this is very helpful. How does one go about appearing authentic, not boastful, and matter-of-fact without context? I tend to be the type of person that does not share any negatives about my life- so when I do post (which is a lot less than I used to)- I worry that people think I'm trying to paint a rosey 'life is perfect' portrait or if I do post things that matter to me (political/social justice) it may come off preachy? Maybe I shouldn't think about it too much and just be myself- but I'm starting to admire those that rarely post because when they do it means so much more.

OP, if you read an interesting article about social justice (or whatever you care about), then just post it without commentary. People will either read it or they won't. If they know you, they will already know where you are "coming from" and what's important to you. I have very few "friends" on FB... the ones who are my friends there actually are friends in real life. So they know my politics already, and know that I'm fairly left and my posts will reflect that. If you have a ton of "friends" (and boy do I hate the use of that word on FB... really bastardizes the meaning) you may want to think about culling your list. I don't really post about my personal life. I mean, WTF cares? If I have something important to say I pick up the phone.

Anonymous wrote:A friend who does humanitarian work in Afghanistan with women and children. She really has something important to say but does it in a matter of fact, truthful way, and she doesn't refer or imply that she is a hero... which in fact she is. Puts all of our first world crap in perspective. No, the fact that these children are hungry and cold doesn't negate the fact that the tuna sandwich you bought for lunch was yucky or that your office was chilly, but makes you think twice about posting such nonsense.

OP here- thanks; this is very helpful. How does one go about appearing authentic, not boastful, and matter-of-fact without context? I tend to be the type of person that does not share any negatives about my life- so when I do post (which is a lot less than I used to)- I worry that people think I'm trying to paint a rosey 'life is perfect' portrait or if I do post things that matter to me (political/social justice) it may come off preachy? Maybe I shouldn't think about it too much and just be myself- but I'm starting to admire those that rarely post because when they do it means so much more.

Friend who is always up on a shared area of political interest and stuff of interest in our shared field of work.

A friend who does humanitarian work in Afghanistan with women and children. She really has something important to say but does it in a matter of fact, truthful way, and she doesn't refer or imply that she is a hero... which in fact she is. Puts all of our first world crap in perspective. No, the fact that these children are hungry and cold doesn't negate the fact that the tuna sandwich you bought for lunch was yucky or that your office was chilly, but makes you think twice about posting such nonsense.

I have a friend who is a working mom who went from out of shape to working out daily and running half marathons. I'm so inspired by her, she looks amazing and really does have it all. Always inspiring when someone can juggle small children, a FT job, and keeping amazingly fit and put together.

There are several people from high school that I lost contact with until FB and I wish we'd stayed IRL friends all along--they're smart and funny and kind.

Bump

I have a FB friend that is going through cancer treatments and I have to say it's her posts that I look forward to the most, because despite it all, she's so positive and inspiring.

Everyone else...meh.

I really like a lot of My FB friends. I hide the ones who are boring or braggy.

The ones I read more often, I enjoy hearing from. I like knowing what they are thinking and what they are up to.

I don't enjoy reading my neice's and nephew's posts but I feel it is a familial obligation not to hide them.... Might change my mond on that one though. High school FB posts can be veeeeeeeery heavy on the drama!

Yes, I have a few acquaintances that are hilarious. I feel closer to a few very old remote friends now than ever; we just share a parenting style. But, I do now realize I know some annoying people also.

A fb friend who lives an incredibly glamorous life but never herself directly refers to it. You only know because she gets tagged by others in photos from movie premiers, red carpet events etc.

Most Def. the big announcers especially the pregnant women that flaunt their bellies-I think that is so beautiful.

Yes I admire one of my inlaws because she always has new postings about her marathons and swimming and jogging...she looks f********HOT.
I wish I could be like her.

I have a FB friend who I have met IRL perhaps three times. He's a friend of a friend, and he is HI-larious. He posts a LOT, and 80% of his posts are funny, or informative, or both. He's a better addition to my friend list than many of my real friends, who can be surprisingly inane on FB, given how cool they are in person. "Another GREAT weekend!" or "ugh, red line was a mess this morning."

Is this possible? Obviously not the braggers, over-posters, insecure types looking for constant validation-but who are your fb friends you actually admire and why? Are they your friends you really like in real life, friends who post with a variety of interesting tid-bits/photos, those that post rarely but in a big way (ie a major announcement). I'm just struggling to navigate in this fb world and turned off by some of the narcissism and constant self-promotion going on- although I'm guilty of that too.