The Facebook Experience: How is It For You?

Tweet

Came across a friend’s post where he hinted at leaving Facebook. A bunch of people quickly jumped in and commented.

Why are so many people getting fed up? He (let’s call him George) summed up one reason quite nicely:

“People aren't using their imaginations. They're afraid to concede to fantasy for fear that others will think them silly, or worse, naïve. I say, what's so bloody wrong with a little silliness or naïveté? We all need more fantasy in our lives. We all need to have more fun.”

George happens to be a musician and thus IS more creative. And he is tired of a million shared posts that provide no added value to his life? Think about it; all those posts he describes tells nothing about the person! Many times the post is simply shared without any commentary.

Why ARE we friends with people on Facebook (or circlers/followers on Google+ for that matter) anyway? If they are strangers to you, have you ever thought about why you friended them? 

• Do you really want to get to know that person? 
• Will you take the time to nurture a friendship? 
• Or, are they just another number in 4 digit plus count of friends?

Meanwhile in your newsfeed, you’re subjected to numerous sponsored ads and a bunch of pages that spew out nothing of value to you that you liked as a courtesy! Don’t get me wrong; I like pretty scenery and quotes. It’s refreshing for a quick break to give my brain a rest and inspire me a bit. It just seems like (as George stated) to have a lack for imagination, or as I would say it, originality.

Last week a Facebook friend (that I met through another Facebook friend) declared “There is nothing for me here.” I enjoyed his posts; they had a lot of humor to them. Because his posts were public I didn’t comment much. His account is now gone and not merely deactivated.

A couple of days ago another Facebook friend declared that she “had had it” with Facebook and she was going to hang out on Twitter instead. She’s still posting though less frequently.

And today, a friend posted a rant that she was fed up with Facebook. I asked why and she stated “People don’t respond to my private messages.” I spurred her on and other issues came up; friends who post fifty times a day, lack of originality, stupid posts, etc. I asked her if she ever sees my posts and she said no. She then came back and said she “adjusted her settings” and now my posts are in her timeline.

And with that statement, she hit the nail on the head! YOU are in control of your experience with Facebook. YOU choose who to friend, what groups to join, what pages to like. 

AND, you can, to some extent, control your newsfeed. If you like a page, go there, like a few posts, and make comments. That page will then show up in your feed! If you really want to hear from a friend, go to their wall, hover over friends, click on settings, and make some changes. Or, “star them” and make them a close friend.

It’s that simple!

In tribute to my friend George, The Temptations will now sing a song about how what we should let run away when we’re posting on Facebook. While you’re running take a rest at our our website, or on Twitter, Facebook, or Google+ and enjoy a little noise sometime too!