I've been thinking about what makes a good Facebook status, and I've narrowed it down to three key things. A good status invites your friends to laugh with you (Painted Maypole's hammock just fell out of the tree. With her in it. Ouch.), celebrate with you (Painted Maypole got the part!) and/or commiserate with you (Painted Maypole really wishes she had heeded the advice "Leaves of three, don't touch me."). The occasional question or request is permitted (Painted Maypole would like to know who else will be at Jazz Fest this Friday.). Pure information sharing should be kept to a bare minimum.
Under no circumstances should you have a status report informing all of your friends that you are at work... unless of course it's the first day at a new job or something (which is then inviting your friends to celebrate with you). And while I am all for political discourse, 2-3 posts per day railing against Obama will get you blocked.
What do you think makes a good - or bad - status report?
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bad=mundane things, things that annoy me, i.e. ABC is taking a nap, ABC is having a snack.
good - you hit the nail on the head with those.
I'm sick of hearing about people's workouts, but I guess they're looking for reinforcement. Maybe that's just sour grapes on my part. I should get off my butt and exercise instead of checking facebook.
I think that Facebook status thingies (and Twitter) should be more well-thought out than they usually are. This can include things that make you laugh or things that make you cry.
But never what you had for lunch (unless it made you laugh or cry) because that is just boring.
I like mine to make people stop and think a little bit. Kind of teaser. My favorite status report I've ever done: "Melissa is done soaking the snake." Lots of comment on *that* one...
any and all is on the bad. I'm not a fan of the facebooking.
I just recently went on Facebook, because all of my castmates were on it. Not convinced yet.
I love FB right now, mainly because I can easily 'converse' with my sisters and old friends that I wouldn't normally get to hear from as often. The other 170 people on there I do not care about at all. I tend to delete the folks who constantly update on every little mess their kid makes or going to the grocery store, or send me a hundred requests.
By the way, if you click on the bottom of the FB home page where it says 'English', you can choose English (Pirate) and it is hysterical. Joy found it yesterday, and it just made me laugh.
I think the funnier the better! :)
I also like the ones that get me thinking...
My status depends on my mood. Sometimes I use the 3 types of updates that you have mentioned, but other times I just update on what I am doing. Boring? Maybe, but it keeps me occupied.
Oh! OH! My personal pet peeve is people who whine in their facebook updates: one of my facebook people is always complaining about her parents in hers and she's FORTY! HAHAHAHAHA.
Otherwise, keep it funny.
The funnier the better, though I've been known to slide into mundane (hey, it happens).
I was JUST thinking of this, because I have "friends" (some of whom are actual friends) on whose statuses I never comment because they're always something that invites no comment. "Just finished lunch" or "picked up the kids from school." What am I supposed to say to that? "How long was the car line?"
On the other hand, "forgot to pick up the kids from school because I was trying to think of a good Facebook update" would be a good one and would meet criteria 1 and 3.
My far-flung friend Natalie is The Undisputed Queen of the Facebook status update. Here are a few of her recent gems:
"I'm saying this as a friend: If you buy sushi from a store that also rents the Rug Doctor and cuts keys, then you deserve to get the trots."
"Natalie just realized that The WHO is the World Health Organization, and it is not the same as The Who. I am very relieved, since I do not believe those guitar-smashing potheads are qualified to speak about a flu pandemic."
and
"Natalie will not be going to see the film about Bobby Sands, in which the main character refuses to eat his dinner and smears his crap on the walls. My son is two and I've had just about enough of that nonsense already."
One of the reasons I stay on Facebook is b/c of Nat's updates.
I admit that I am a bit OCD with my frequent FB updates and while I try to be clever I don't always pull it off. I am expecting Chrissy to unfriend me any day now.
And I want to be friends with this Natalie person. She is hysterical.
I admit that I am a bit OCD with my frequent FB updates and while I try to be clever I don't always pull it off. I am expecting Chrissy to unfriend me any day now.
And I want to be friends with this Natalie person. She is hysterical.
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