Don’t get me wrong…I love Facebook as much as the next person. My problem isn’t with Facebook, it’s with the people and their affinity for oversharing. I won’t name any names, but there are certain users who go a bit crazy in the status update department. I feel like some of the posts are reminiscent of the “confessional” sound bytes used during reality shows. Always too much and never a secret!
Here are a few of my favorite TMIers…I’m sure you know some and please feel free to add other categories.
The Complainer
This person is NEVER happy. Life must be incredibly hard for people like this because they seem to always be complaining about something. They want something so they complain, they get it and they complain – either way their stream is all about how miserable things are.
For example, there’s the “I need another job, more money, etc. post,” followed by a string of updates in the coming days about job searching, interviews, etc. You land the job…YAY, but no now come the posts about being “tired, overworked, it’s too much.” So you say you need something, then you get it and now every post is a series of complaints about the thing you wanted and how much it sucks. Enough already, Negative Nancy!
The Lover
This person LOVES to share all about love, their relationship, ups, downs, hugs, tears, fights – EVERYTHING! I have a feeling most of these “lovers” are really not that content in their relationship and use Facebook as a means of overcompensating. The posts about “I have the most amazing husband in the world and thing couldn’t be better…” indicate to me that things may not be so rosy. Then there are the couples who constantly write “I love you” and even worse, inappropriate TMI love messages on each others walls. Thanks for sharing! The worst by far are the couples who fight on Facebook going as far as stating “saying I do was my biggest mistake.” Maybe it’s time to take the conversation from the FB wall to a therapist.
The Farmville (insert other game) psycho updater
OMG…is there no way to turn these updates off?!? (My sources tell me there is in fact a way to turn off the automatic updates.) I understand that you may not have other responsibilities in your daily life aside from harvesting crops, killing mobsters, or playing Family Feud, but must you subject us to constant updates about your gaming habits. It’s just crazy and unnecessary. There is nothing useful in any of these updates.
The Politico
It’s political season and this FB offender has an opinion on every candidate. They’re creating pages for candidates, groups, hosting fundraisers and sharing every single detail along the way. Don’t get me wrong, I fully support the political process and think everyone should exercise their right to vote. HOWEVER, I think talking politics can be sensitive and Facebook may not be the right place for it. I’m totally comfortable with a post or two about a certain candidate or about volunteering on a campaign, but if every other post is about campaign signs, donating money to a campaign, attending the 20th fundraiser for a candidate, or joining yet another “I voted for so and so” group – I vote no.
The Viral Junkie
This “friend” must secretly work for YouTube as every post in their stream in a video. No real rhyme or reason, no context to go along with it, just a robotic stream of video after video after video…
I’d love to hear your thoughts on Facebook posts. Are you ever annoyed by people’s status updates? Do you have any other offenders you’d like to add to the list?