The strange world of social media
Posted on May 16, 2013 by Hafsa Pathan
I’m fairly active on social media – a major prerequisite to being a Social Media Coordinator, I suppose.
My entire life (or rather the past few years) is fully documented on Twitter. You will learn about my study methods, my happy moments, and my various rants.
I treat Instagram almost the same way, posting pictures of my day-to-day activity – which often includes what I’m wearing, what I’m doing, what I’m eating, who I’m with and where I am.
If you want to know what I ate for dinner last week, there is a 95 per cent chance that there’s a picture of it on my Instagram (Valencia filtered obviously), and I’ve probably mentioned the restaurant in a Tweet if I enjoyed the meal.
Both my Instagram and Twitter accounts are public and I pride myself on retweets or likes from total strangers who just like my clothes or what I have to say. Building a community of semi-strangers with similar interests on these sites makes it way more fun!
But then, there’s my Facebook account. I keep that one fully guarded, loaded with information that I choose not to share with others. Yes, it has my ramblings or two-cents worthy statuses. And yes, I do post pictures. Yet I choose not to share it with everyone. Those
constant
privacy updates that Facebook throws at us every few months? Yeah, I read those and use them to make sure no one can access anything I don’t want them to see.
Why is that?
I decided to dig a little deeper into why I feel like I want to keep my Facebook guard up, and if other people feel the same way. I spoke with other people and they agreed. They may be public on Instagram and Twitter but their Facebook accounts are locked-down with a big “No Creepers Allowed” sign.
Furthermore, I find myself attracting tons of followers on Twitter and Instagram who I know in real life, but only met in passing. They’re quick to follow me on these accounts to catch a glimpse of my
not-so-exciting
life, but I still don’t have them on Facebook because I don’t really know them that well.
What’s up with that? Why are we so lenient with privacy on some of our social media accounts and not others? Why do we allow certain people to see our tweets or photos, but not our statuses?
Let me know your thoughts via Twitter or in the comments below!
Hafsa is a Social Media Coordinator at 88 Creative. Follow her on Twitter at @Hafs__ .
Creeping on Facebook is so easy to do, and we’ve had so many years to perfect it. It’s almost second nature now. How many times have you heard a persons name and instantly remembered them as a mutual friend of someone else.. its so creepy. Personally I think I’m guarded about my Facebook accounts because I know what kind of creeper I am, and so I know what others could be capable of. Twitter and Instagram are all things I have control over (or perceived control over), and so it’s like the best aspects of our lives on display. Even though I did it for a week myself, I don’t get people who lock their Twitter accounts. It’s so elitist – as if the world doesn’t deserve to hear your thoughts or something. It’s almost as infuriating as those people who have facebook but hide their wall completely. I understand if you have a wall that nobody can see what you write, or a wall where only you can post – but nothing at all? Don’t get me started on the people with Instagram who are actively liking pictures, but never post their own. Anyways, great post. Can’t wait for more.
Thanks for the comment! Facebook has allowed us to be extremely creepy – I’ve recognized people in the mall from pictures I’ve seen on Facebook!
I’m guilty of limiting my Facebook wall but I do post regularly on it – I just don’t allow others to do it. I also used to protect my Instagram and Twitter but slowly weaned off of protecting everything I do and just limiting what I post. Now I don’t think I would ever go back to protecting the accounts, I love being retweeted!
H