There are some things I can’t bring myself to do. I know they’re supposed to be fun and light hearted. I know the point is to share something about yourself. Start a conversation. Make a connection. I get this. I have a blog, and I’ve opened up my life with the hope of making a connection through sharing. I’ve crossed the line of over-sharing more than the Average Joe.
But there are things that I’ve categorized as not-for-me. Am I being closed minded? Are my introverted tendencies rearing their head? Am I not as open as I’d like to think? Something is blocking me from joining in.
Here are three things I can’t bring myself to do:
1. Make a Facebook movie. – I’m happy for you Facebook. I really am. Whew – has it really been ten years? But last week when movies started popping up in my feed faster than Winter Olympics commercials for Chicken McNuggets, I didn’t get that, Oh this is so fun feeling. I tried very, very hard to not let my eyes roll too far back in my head and Liked every post making fun of said movies. Did I actually watch a single movie? Hell no. I’ve been watching you post pictures every day for the last five years. And I’m perfectly aware of every picture I’ve ever posted or been tagged in on Facebook as I regularly curate my profile. And if something slipped through the cracks, I sure wasn’t going to give Facebook the pleasure of putting it into a movie.
2. Take a personality quiz. – I have a very healthy screen habit, and trust me, it’s not highbrow. But everyone can’t be Carrie. The last online personality test I took circa 2002 matched you with your Sex in the City counterpart. And of course, everyone wants to be Carrie. No one wants to be the prissy one, or the slutty one, or the nerdy one. I could have lived the rest of my life believing I was Carrie, but no, the test said I was Miranda. How much this information has shaped my destiny, we’ll never know. And so online personality tests became dead to me, because I don’t need or want to know the qualities that I share with an imaginary character and no matter how great a match we might be, I’m not moving to Cape Town.
3. Use an emoticon. – I’m a visual person. How could I possibly reject using letters to create images that express an emotion? Use your words. That’s what I’ve spent the last eight years telling my kids. If you can’t express yourself through words, well, you’ve got problems. I am not anti-emotion. I like smiles. I am pro-smile. Next time I see you I will throw a smile your way. And while we’re on the subject, I’ve never abbreviated laugh out loud. I find a solid Ha! to work just as well.
What’s the story? Why the resistance?
I’m a control freak snob. That might be part of it. I’ll own that.
I’m starting to understand why people hate Gwyneth so much.
Can’t you just lighten up and make the movie, take the quiz and and throw me a cutesy winky face?
If it were that simple. I’m sorry. I just can’t.
Maybe I’m not a bandwagon kind of girl. Maybe I like my black sheep status. I’ve never been interested in doing things that everyone else is doing.
Maybe I lack the confidence.
Maybe I just assume that no one cares about my pictures or which character I am on Friday Night Lights or if I’m feeling frowny or cheeky.
Without attacking the people that do these things, I’ve noticed a line…people who do and people who don’t. Is it that simple?
Where do you fall? And why?
First off 🙂 I Love this Post! Made me really laugh!! I finally broke down and watched my FB movie but did not share w other because I agree – how could they actually care. As for personality quizzes — I’m addicted. I had no idea I should live in Barcelona or am Ice T on SVU Law & Order. But I also must admit I Only take these when I’m at work, which might make it Way Worse. Sticking it to the Man – do they have a quiz for that? Emoticons & I have a love hate relationship. I really love the winky face but agree with your take on LOL – really don’t get that one. HILARIOUS Post!! Hashtag Winky Face
You are SO Ice T. Just kidding. Never watched that show. Personality quiz as sticking it to the man. Interesting angle.
Good laugh for today! Loved it. You are right – there is definitely a definitive line between people who do and do not!
Thanks Kel – I am fascinated by the line…I want to do some sort of study.
Oh geez. You had to go there. Why do I feel such shame for avoiding Facebook for 10 years and making that known publicly in this comment? And now movies??!! (A question I often pondered is – if one is not on Facebook, does one actually exist? I have not chronicled my life there so, for my descendants, for example, will it be as if I never lived if they can’t find me on Facebook? I worry about this…) I guess I have to also admit to trying to type lol several times in a text and being physically unable to. It was painful to type it just now. Is it because I think people will believe that I am trying to look young and “with it”? Or is it my English major background that holds me back? Its awful, I know, but I have a viseral reaction to it! That definitely says more about me than the person who actually uses it. And I don’t take personality tests although I would probably end up being Miranda x 2 if any of the characters. Emoticons. I don’t use them. I guess I am definitely one who “does not.” But I want to know why! Do the study Kaly…
I think some of it is definitely an age thing…but also personality has to be in there too. For me, I’m just not that bubbly. I wouldn’t worry about being on Facebook. It looks like it will be slowly fading out as the social media darling as other more specific platforms like Instagram become more popular. And you joined Instagram so you’re ahead of the curve!
Sorry! “Visceral”
Somehow I knew you couldn’t let that typo go – English major rears her head.
Since I read your post yesterday, I have in mind: Yes i did the Facebook movie, I published it and I need to assume it. In fact this post revives in me the whole thing about Facebook, kind of a hate/love. So here it is: I feel I need to justify myself, and find your blog a better place than Facebook to do it! I liked the Facebook movie of one of my friend…so I tried mine and then thought that my parents would love it…..and then I felt like Facebook got me one more time into oversharing! But it is not Facebook or anybody else, it is me: I had Facebook do it for me and I published it for the whole word to see it!
I think most people have a love/hate relationship with Facebook. It’s almost like a necessary evil. Don’t feel bad about publishing and sharing your movie! That wasn’t my intention of the post at all. We live in a very interesting time when we have the ability to share so much and it’s fascinating to me that there are people that do and people that do not. And many of us are still trying to figure out what that looks like in our own lives. And when you live so far away from your family I can imagine the challenges are even greater.
Good stuff, as always. 1) I went on several rants about the FBmovie thing a couple of weeks ago. It appears to be mercifully dying out (and why is that its always he most boring people who do this?)
2) If a picture is worth 1000 words, than an emoticon is worth -250.
3) I have to admit, I’ve fallen prey to the personality things twice recently…which old time wrestler (Doink the Clown) and 90’s grunge singer (Beck) are you? The scary thing that people don’t realize is that a good majority of these are designed to create a better profile of you.
No, this isn’t a right-wing obama’s-out-to-take-my-guns conspiracy. Its a fact. We work with clients who live for this stuff. They want to know more about you so they can target you with ads — I mean – “better personalize your web browsing experience.”
When you come in via Facebook, you’ve already been identified – They know what tv shows you watch, what bands you like, how old you are an where you live. Anything you’ve filled out in your profile and anything you’ve Liked. Then they match this up with some psychographic information you give them in the Quiz of the day (this is rally just a big MBTI personality test if you think about it.) They throw all that data into a big vat and some smart people and big machines will figure out that you will soon be in the market for a lawn mower. It is scary.
There’s a great story about how Target knows if your pregnant by crunching the items you by against your credit card. One anecdote talks about how a dad found out his 15 year old daughter was expecting because she kept getting coupons for maternity stuff. (http://goo.gl/5V3iZs)
Heres an excerpt … “One Target employee I spoke to provided a hypothetical example. Take a fictional Target shopper named Jenny Ward, who is 23, lives in Atlanta and in March bought cocoa-butter lotion, a purse large enough to double as a diaper bag, zinc and magnesium supplements and a bright blue rug. There’s, say, an 87 percent chance that she’s pregnant and that her delivery date is sometime in late August.”
Sorry to hijack your comments section, but I don’t think people realize what they are doing when they do these tests. Some might not care. But some will.
Look forward to reading more of your posts.
I just knew those surveys were up to no good.
I’m not sure how I feel about targeted marketing yet. I think if you opt in, it could be really cool. Being in Philly and learning a new city, I was fantasizing that my phone could cue me that there are places I would like nearby. Something like, “it’s hot today and we know you like iced tea, starbucks is just a block from here. you should also check out this place, it has a gluten free donuts, and on the same block is a store with mid-century furniture….” All things I would be interested in.
Would it be weird to be tracked in that way? I think if I asked, and it was truly relevant to me then it could be cool. I don’t want a push notification every time 50 feet from a Starbucks. We’ll see. From what I’ve read, FourSquare is going in that direction.
But Target crunching my credit card data behind my back in order to sell me more stuff – that feels creepy.
I’m also wondering if there are types of personalities that rarely take the tests….that is really what I’m interested in. Are there personality types that never take the tests? Are there people more inclined to take it based on their personality. And are those people easier targets for marketing?
As for the FB movie, I was following your contempt and liking it all the way. But after being schooled a little bit more, I did see that for some people it did actually have value. I guess my public service announcement would be you can make a slideshow on your computer with music of your choice just as easily. And do people realize or care that FB owns their pictures?
Thanks for the insight Jeff. I can now go out and consume with more insight. What can I buy that will totally screw up Target’s profile of me? Either way, they win I guess.