Monday, April 27, 2015

My Annoying, Unfocused and Lovable FB Friends


Do you remember the days when someone would be surprised that you were on Facebook and that you sent a message wanting to friend them? If you had gray hair, older children, and/or an established career or were retired, you were joining the college (young adults) kids hangout. You had entered their little social club and they were not sure that, as much as they love/like you, they wanted to let you into their fun and "edgy" lives.  You were an archaic part of the world, part of the more established and boring social world and you would water down their happy little group!

No?  You have forgotten?


Well I can remember a 20-something being amazed in comments on FB to my son that I, my son's Mom, was on FB and wanted to 'friend' him!  My son did not respond because he was probably crying in the bedroom of his apartment.  I am an in-your-face snarky kind of mom, so he knew this could be the end of his social life as he knew it.  


Well, as we all know, 20-somethings are now closer to their 40's than their 20's and have families of their own whom they worry about allowing getting a FB account in the immediate future.  FB has become less edgy and less young and more like the rest of the social world full of people wanting your money, your ID, your time and in some cases your soul.

I still like FB.  I have some great friends on FB and am able to keep in touch a little better with long lost friends and far away relatives and to actually see some great images after I wade through all the memes and useless personality tests and directed ads.

Still I have "those" friends on FB who are gentle and very social souls and whom I view with some condescending superiority (I'm sorry).  They post endless posters of sunsets or kittens with uplifting quotes, photos of baby animals, photos of wounded veterans they do not know, photos of animals in shelters, photos of missing teenagers they do not know.  Others find it necessary to post photos of their latest meal, photos of their latest manicure, their latest haircut, and of course, those photos at the bar with friends celebrating endless birthdays and get-togethers.  (Maybe I am jealous that I do not get out more...not.)

I have friends, like me, who post news from Public Broadcasting sites, "interesting" arguments on political issues, and interesting studies found about demographics or psychology or this insane Congress and its add-ons to bills, and volunteer group items.   AND I post endless photos that I am addicted to sharing.  I also do communicate with friends in my comments.  Of course, none of this is annoying to MY friends.

FB has changed in that members can now create groups and post certain things to only those groups, so some folks (son?) can now keep me out of a certain part of their life.  Oh well, it worked for a while and while it has competition with other sites, I will still hang out there for a short while in the morning and late afternoon.


(Yes, I fiddled way too much with the font and I am not going back and changing any more <span> stuff.)

21 comments:

  1. I do enjoy FB, but really am annoyed with all the stuff people "like" and clutter up your FB page. It keeps me in touch with children, grandchildren, and many friends who post occasional stuff. I'm more of a FB "stalker" as my grandkids say.

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  2. Facebook is great for lots of the stuff you mention, and it is pretty easy to ignore or scroll past someone's dinner.

    Oh, and just because I don't repost, I still "Hate you stupid cancer!"

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  3. Exactly. I have an acquaintance - a woman pushing 60!! - who seems addicted to posting adorable sayings by the minions of Despicable Me. Reeely? Still amused by mass media cartoons?
    Okay. I feel much better now.
    Thanks.

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  4. Funny...and true.
    I hold the line at a 60 something who posts all about her family's feuds with an ex-daughter in law. I un-friended her...

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  5. I find FB a mix of beneficial and irritating but I learned something handy. I can stop someone from showing up on my newsfeed (which means they can stop me too) and not have to unfriend them to do it. So if they post endless political stuff, even when I agree, eventually it gets old. It's actually even tougher when I disagree as I often feel compelled to add my two-cents-- and we all know how well that works. I like seeing the photos of people and their families, vacations, great on the new haircuts; but endless repetitions of their new books that aren't new anymore also gets old.

    When you block them from your newsfeed, you can go to their page to see what you were missing-- if you remember to do it...

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  6. You do almost exactly the same stuff on FB that I do!

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  7. I am only on FB to see my children and grandchildrens photos
    and a few special friends.
    Very limited I am
    and keep thinking of not having
    this account..

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  8. Someone said, and I agree, that having lots of friends on Facebook is like sitting at the popular table in an insane asylum.

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  9. I think FB pages are totally symbolic of their authors in real life.

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  10. The fonts and colors defeat me sometimes, too. As for Facebook, i've never joined and don't want to. It would mean even more time online, and i've het my limit.

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  11. I too use FB, esp. for the family, but I've had to block a number of friends who constantly barraged me with their political views, baby pics., or favorite youtube clips. I dunno why, but for some reason I do love the travel posts.

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  12. I have always been surprised with the lack of generation gap on Facebook. Do you link to your blog posts? I do and get a lot of Facebook readers but they don't comment cause they are too used to just clicking "like." I do belong to a Floyd only group.

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  13. FB is good for watching the activities of grandchildren and keeping connected with people from all parts of my life. Having all my names on there means I can be found. I like that.

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  14. I do check FB a number of times each day, but it is something that I could live without.

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  15. I'm on FB. I don't watch the news on TV or read the paper so I keep up with what's happening via several sites and pages. also keep up with the glass art world and artists. and keep up with family that's scattered all around. FB can be annoying with all the platitudes and dog and cat memes and abuse pictures. but easy enough to stop following people without unfriending them. I need to stop reading the comments though because they make me really hate human beings.

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  16. LOL...Yup, there are am at dawn posting the stuff to "Great Curves" and the"Discovery Shop." Then I gobble down all the posts from all my friends lingering over the good photography.

    Yes, way too many quizes. Few meme's now on my list. Way too many lost, abandoned, found, et al dogs cats and kittens for me. But there are almost all my family...some speaking and some not. My dead best- friends kids, my grandson's father who has never seen his son....endless. I soometimes feel as if I am the memory and the repository of all lost pictures. :) LOL

    Love this entry.

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  17. PS: Have you discovered the Mv Algolake yet. She is a greatlakes bulker with an enthusiastic with-camera crew. One does videos, another does stunning B&W images that belong in galleries.

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  18. I don't get the quizzes and such. My older friends seem to be more focused on issues, the younger ones on family, partying, etc. Lots of selfies and cat and animal vids. But I don't spend much time on Facebook. Twitter is better, because I can link to news outlets and also follow the opinions of people I admire. I hardly ever put anything on Twitter, follow about 100 twitterers and have 26 (!) followers, which is fine by me.
    All these things are for us, and we should just use them as we please.
    Blogging remains my favorite.

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  19. FB definitely has benefits but it also a major annoyance to me. I think everyone is just too much in everyone else's business these days and FB makes that so easy. As you said, people posting what they had for breakfast or their random thoughts, etc., it just gets to be too much.
    But I will stay on it because it is a nice way to stay in touch with distance relatives and faraway friends.

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  20. Anonymous12:28 AM

    FB annoys me at times, but I always remind myself of all the people it's enabled me to reconnect with - family, high school friends, old work colleagues, blog and photography friends. I just scroll past anything I'm not interested in and try to avoid all the controversial stuff.

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  21. I check into Facebook every so often. Some people post too many private things. One friend's VERY pregnant daughter-in-law posted photos that look like Playboy set ups. Maybe I'm too old fashioned.

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Take your time...take a deep breath...then hit me with your best shot.