Has it happened to you yet? You're participating in some activity in your daily life, say cooking dinner or watching a movie, and you hear a third-person narration in your head....."Kirsten is cooking homemade chicken noodle soup for dinner," or "Kirsten is watching 'Frozen River' (Melissa Leo definitely deserved that Oscar nomination but man, is she looking rough)." It's like that movie where Will Farrell plays a writer who's disturbed by the voice of Emma Thompson narrating his life as he lives it -- but much more mundane. It's the curse of the Facebook status update.
I have really noticed it this week, for some reason. In my mind, I'll sort of stop what I'm doing and think about whether or not my current activity would make a compelling status update. Because the status update really is an art form, I think. I am a fan of a pithy, amusing update -- one that makes me think fondly of the updater, and admire his or her clever turn of phrase. A mini book or movie review can offer nice insight into what you're interested in, and can spark some good discussion. A little mystery can be fun too, as long as it is not taken too far, or for too long. I also like a link -- if it is funny or interesting or food-related. I really dislike the complaints -- I actually de-friended one person whose more-than-daily updates ran the very narrow gamut of "Stacy (not her real name) sprained her ankle" (followed by at least 20 pictures of her swollen ankle) to "Stacy has a cold" or "Stacy is sad." I understand that sometimes you feel crummy and want some cyber support, but hey -- just try to make it interesting, and don't overdo it. (On the other hand, I have another FB friend whose exotic travel-related updates usually make me roll my eyes -- so maybe don't overdo it on the interesting either.)
I enjoyed doing status update haikus a couple of weeks ago -- I thought it gave the "form" some nice structure, and added an element of craft. (I am still considering starting a new haiku blog -- something along the lines of Haiku My Life - your life story in 17 syllables -- could be fun, right?)
But 95% of the internal status updates that zip through my brain do not pass muster, and I think with good reason. Do you really care that I ate a lean pocket and an english muffin for dinner (I did -- so sad) or that I need to trim my toenails but I can't find the toenail clippers (also true)? I will pledge to try to keep my updates interesting if you will. And let me know -- what are your key status update dos & don'ts?
6 comments:
This post is spot on, in my humble opinion.
You know me - I favor song lyrics, and I am fascinated by how some lyrics go unnoticed and other, more obscure ones, may attract multiple comments.
I cannot imagine how silly it would be to have a FB pal who jetsetted around the world and filled their status updates with comments about sunset drinks in Tahiti and morning pilates in Greece, etc. If that happened to me, I'd be compelled to make snarky comments about them with a mutual friend.
i'm cursed by this also! along with facebook status updates [which i rarely do] i think in gchat status, twitter [which i overdo], blog updates, text messages, and comments. i think with all those things combined, i seem REALLY into myself.
Food and runny noses get my goat.
Also really cryptic ones that are ill-disguised pleas for someone to ask what they mean. And the 100th person to say "____ is thinking about [major news story of the day]."
Similar thoughts from another Trinity pal - Lisa Gurevich: http://lisasabin.blogspot.com/2010/01/curse-of-facebook-perpetually-skimming.html
And here I am! Lisa Gurevich, now Sabin. Love what you wrote, Kirsten! Great blog.
I personally hide anyone who offers a "spiritual thought of the day" or anyone who just lists what they are planning to do that day without even attempting to be a bit clever.
A NYT column on this very issue.
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