Monday, August 12, 2013

Always posting pics on Facebook? Then you're weird, study says

"Research from the U.K. suggests that those who post vast numbers of pictures to Facebook might have trouble enjoying relationships in real life." 
So here are 20 photos of our hike this weekend.
Here am I, standing halfway up a hill. And here am I standing halfway down a hill. 
I don't have a Facebook account, for reasons which I have not sat down to deliberately think about, as to why it is, that I'm not on Facebook. I do know people who are on Facebook and sometimes they ask me why I'm not on it.
Here is some good news, however. A study suggests that people who do this may be alienating themselves from those who might be called normal human beings.
I don't have problem with that sentence. But something tells me that the "may" and "might" are there because some people would have a problem with the suggestion that some people could be characterized as "normal human beings". 

Click for mas 

 
When I think of normal these days, I remember this.
Jobless Rate Is Not the New Normal
That NYT headline is supposed to say '"High' Jobless Rate Is Not The New Normal". The NYT left out the apt description of "high" because they wanted to hide/obfuscate the fact that unemployment was high under Obama. It was high before the election when the column was written and it is high now still.
The NYT doesn't want us to face the new normal. A good rule of thumb for the NYT 'might' be to believe the opposite of whatever you read there.
 
Back to Facebook.
The report -- delightfully called Tagger's Delight (PDF) -- offers a highly academic picture of the shared picture: "Increased frequency of sharing photographs of the self, regardless of the type of target sharing the photographs, is related to a decrease in intimacy."
Because this research was performed by academics, there are kinks.
I'm wondering if there is a new normal hidden in that last sentence. Who else does this type of research; besides academics and was/is their research notoriously kinkless?

Wonder no more, here is an answer.
For example: "Close friends sharing an increasing number of photographs of the self is related to increased scores of intimacy, whereas close friends sharing photographs of friends is related to decreased scores in intimacy."
Ah, but who, these days, is really a close friend?
New Normal indeed.
At heart, the researchers would like to warn you that you should remember all the different types of people who might view your daily snaps of fascination.
There might be some "normal human beings" in your Facebook who do not do Facebook as enthusiastically as new normal Facebookers.

22 comments:

rhhardin said...

When you and the dog take a break outside, take the camera.

Get a programmer to show you how to put the pics up on flickr with a couple of keystrokes.

Soon you'll have 34,000 doberman pics on flickr.

What's weird is that you're a programmer.

Eric the Fruit Bat said...

"May" means "may not."

deborah said...

I have zero desire to be on facebook.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

I have zero desire to be on facebook.

If the story behind the movie 'biography' of Facebook is right, facebook is being used the way it was intended.

Sharing is good but comparing all the time has to become dysfunctional, at some point.

bagoh20 said...

I do have trouble enjoying relationships in real life, but I deleted my Facebook account. Facebook didn't make it easier to enjoy them.

deborah said...

I just foresaw the boredom of viewing the minutiae of the lives of friends and family. It's interesting that, from what I've read, people get depressed thinking others are have better lives than them lol.

According to my cousin, his sister's in-laws have a Facebook war going on lol again.

I prefer to be abnormal in an isolated manner.

Eric the Fruit Bat said...

Do people still send out those family newsletters?

Lem the artificially intelligent said...
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Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Coming back from Canada last night, the young were sitting in the back with their phones and iPads and their girlfriends, mostly silent. I noticed because I went back a couple of times to use the "laboratory". And I also notice the contrast of the adults in the front telling jokes and being more vociferously outgoing.

I don't want to be critical but I think while they may not be missing something they are making an exchange. An inequivalent exchange.

With all the math wizs here, I probably should not be using the word inequivalent, It's not like I have top protection to appeal to. I'm not under the top umbrella.

Birches said...

I'm on facebook. We have a family group which is good for organizing family parties and such. It is convenient. But I'm constantly amazed at how many attention whores there are out there. Grown women posting "sexy" pictures of themselves so that all their girlfriends can say "Oh, you're so pretty." Weirdos.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Facebook can be the other extreme of Muslim burkas.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

If you don't post on facebook, you're weird. Nobody wins.

bagoh20 said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
bagoh20 said...

I've noticed lately that when there are two or more young women in a car, they usually both have their cell phones in hand, driver and passenger, texting away. I feel sorry for them. I assume that all the relationships they have will probably not be as strong as they would be without that device in hand.

edutcher said...

Why is it so many people on Facebook don't seem to get the idea whatever you post is up there for the world to see for all time, not just your inner circle?

Same with Twitter.

OTOH I know several people who use LinkedIn for similar purposes because they don't want to go near FB.

Birches said...

And another thing I'm always annoyed about. I have some family members that are constantly tagging me when we go places together. "Now we're at the gas station on our way to the movies." "Now we're at the movies." "Now we're eating a little dessert after the movies." Do not like that.

Birches said...

And another thing I'm always annoyed about. I have some family members that are constantly tagging me when we go places together. "Now we're at the gas station on our way to the movies." "Now we're at the movies." "Now we're eating a little dessert after the movies." Do not like that.

ndspinelli said...

Deborah, Me too. I guess most folks understand that about me because no one who really knows me ever asks if I'm on Facebook.

deborah said...

Yeah, Nick, my sisters were telling me way back when I should join. But they know how I am.

Unknown said...

I greatly dislike facebook. It's a huge invasion of privacy. It amazes me that people so willingly post pix of their kids, along with their address, full name and significant details of their lives, so there's no mistaking who they are and where you can find them. In this day and age, where any goofball with an internet connection can be perusing this stuff, I just think that's nuts.

But what's worse, is that people feel free to post pix of MY kids, with details about who they are, what they're doing and their proximity to the poster's home. This makes me angry. People wonder why I don't share photos with them online. It's because seconds after I share them, they're posted on facebook. I can't seem to do anything about people who take their own pictures of my kids, however.

I will say this, however. We had two tragic deaths in the extended family in the last 12 months (one was due to cancer, the other a tragic accident), and since both of them had facebook accounts, the accumulation of loving memories posted by people from from all aspects of their lives was actually very nice.

Though why everyone else in the world should have access to this, along with personal details about their families and death circumstances, is beyond me.

ad hoc said...

Lem said - And I also notice the contrast of the adults in the front telling jokes and being more vociferously outgoing.

That reminds me of It Happened One Night with Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert. They meet on a bus traveling to NYC and what is interesting about the bus trip is the way in which the passengers interact. Although they are mostly strangers, they are joking and singing together as they pass the time. They are providing their own entertainment for the trip essentially. It appears somewhat anachronistic now; different time.

Although I'm not on Facebook, I do undertand that it works to keep families and friends in touch.

ken in tx said...

I just recently watched "It Happened One Night" because I was converting my VHS copy to DVD. It's a good movie and a great lesson in how to make a woman fall in love with you.