Have you ever wondered what your social media activity reveals about you? Perhaps, you haven’t given it much thought; perhaps, we all post stuff without considering what friends and followers perceive about us, directly or indirectly.
“Distracted from distraction by distraction” ― T.S. Eliot
“You have five hundred Facebook ‘friends’? That simply means you’ve redefined ‘friend’ to make it something like ‘a contact I exchange data with’.” ― Hugh Mackay, The Art of Belonging
Both of these quotes are insightful. Social media has become a giant basket of communication that shares information in ways we have grown comfortable with; yet I wonder if we shouldn’t take a step back to consider what we’re sharing about ourselves that wasn’t obvious to us. In other words, are you revealing much more than what a post contains on the surface — a picture of your birthday cake, a book you’ve just finished reading, the weather you’re experiencing in your city or neighborhood?
“Tempted to type meaningless twaddle all the time on Twitter…with alliteration, no less!” ― E.A. Bucchianeri
WE ARE WHAT WE POST
In time, patterns develop in what we tend to post. At least, that’s been my observation. People get to know our patterns, our interests, and how we negotiate interaction in a make-believe world via social media. If we take a look at our posts from afar, perhaps, those patterns become a bit more discernible. Ever tried it? Simply scroll through your last 20 to 50 posts; can you see more than the individual posts? Was there a collective thread, a trend or predictable content? With the passage of time, did you like what you saw?
“When it comes to social media marketing, you don’t have to post 3 times a day. It’s never about how often you post but the quality of your content.” ― Janet Benson Amarhavwie, Social Media Manager
“I log off because I’m bored. I log back on in five minutes because I’m bored.” ― Unknown
In following my friends for many years on various platforms, I’ve come to know them in different ways, because they often reveal more than the contents of an actual post. They also share information about their priorities, values, beliefs, fears, joys, and sorrows. Perhaps not frequently, but often enough that I start to get a more complete picture. Granted, the picture will always be a bit sketchy, but nonetheless, even the frequency of certain posts tells me something. Maybe I didn’t know that my old friend from college was a serious Seth Meyer fan, for instance; maybe I didn’t know they worried about their hairstyle, whether or not they looked better in long or short cuts. Perhaps, I caught myself posting a certain quote a bit too often because it really resonated with me. So a little self-knowledge is also possible. Quite a bit of self-knowledge actually, if we look honestly at what we post and when.
Are we well-rounded? Are we obsessed with certain topics? Do we sound reasonable or eccentric, funny or slightly strange? Are we self-focused to a large extent or do we post content that is other-focused? Are we boring, interesting, or too vague to be anything at all? Do we try to post unusual or exciting things, or run-of-the-mill events? Do we love humor or sharing ideas around the national news? What time of day do we usually post, or are we guilty of posting when we really don’t have anything to say?
Social media has taken over in America to such an extreme that to get my own kids to look back a week in their history is a miracle, let alone 100 years. — Steven Spielberg
Social media has given us this idea that we should all have a posse of friends when in reality, if we have one or two really good friends, we are lucky. ― Brene Brown
I hear many people say they prefer to avoid controversial topics and posts. I understand that. No one wants to ignite a storm of comments that lead to stress or anxiety. Constructive dialogue, however, is often insightful; the sincere sharing of ideas and perceptions can lead to greater understanding, even meaningful friendship.
For instance, I recently blogged about the merits of conversation on Brevity.
“In Praise of Conversation” looked closely at conversation versus communication. “I love to turn an intriguing topic upside down, rattle it around. I still see tremendous value in sharing experience and knowledge even if disagreement is inevitable. Thought-provoking dialogue, substantive and honest, also defuses the loneliness engendered by hectic, techno-based lifestyles seldom focused on meaningful human interaction.” (Click here for the entire post.)
We can use social media to learn and network; it can be a positive force in the world. Like anything else though, it’s important to be thoughtful and genuine when we post something. Even “fun” has its limits, and inviting endless controversy doesn’t seem to be all that useful. Pausing before posting makes sense. Be sure it’s something you want to say and share. And if you don’t like what you posted, hit delete. ~
“Be a person that others will look for your posts daily because they know you will encourage them. Be the positive one and help others to have a great day and you will find that not only they like you but you will like you too.” ― John Patrick Hickey, Oops! Did I Really Post That
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