Talk:Avery Wein
Comment 1
Hi Avery,
I enjoyed reading your Facebook Avatar evaluation. As a not-so-frequent Facebook user, I especially found your comments on the social and behavioral norms of the site to be reflective and insightful.
In the “I love Facebook” introduction, you mention that you are an avid Facebook user and “guilty of checking it way too often” but that you have stopped posting recently. In your experience, which identity – the one when you were younger and poste status updates a lot versus your use now – is a more accurate portrayal of your offline self? Has your Facebook behavior from 2009 to now changed because of changes in Facebook’s platform, social norms, changes in your offline life, or another factor?
I thought that your discussion about how “likes” are related to self-esteem was really interesting. A few other questions to consider are: Do you think that the need for approval through Facebook’s liking system has an impact on our normative identities? Because likes are also a representation of your attention and approval, how do you determine which posts to like? I thought that it was really interesting that your dad made a Facebook account to monitor your activity. In the “Privacy” section, you mention that because of your conscientiousness about what you post, you have never felt unsafe on the site. Do you think that your good posting habits were a result of your parent’s involvement in your tech use? As you grew up, did your dad’s ability to view your account ever feel like a violation of your privacy, even if he didn’t view it often?
Lastly, you mentioned that you use Facebook as a photo album but that you occasionally untag yourself from pictures. To what extent is your photo album an accurate representation of your identity?
Great job on the article!
Joanna Warrick
Comment #2:
Avery,
I really liked how you examined the “unwritten rules” of Facebook, and I definitely agree with you on them! The screenshot of your former statuses reminded me of the types of things that I used to post myself. I couldn’t imagine today posting some of the things that I posted seven years ago. I think if you wanted to add some more to your avatar regarding authenticity, you can explore how your status posts have changed over time, and how they may or may not give the most accurate representation of you.
I also appreciated your honestly when you said you untag yourself from certain photos, and I would be lying to you if I said I didn’t do the same thing. That is what I think makes social media appealing in many ways because you are the one deciding the content that everyone sees when they view your profile. The other aspect of your avatar that I appreciated the most was when you wrote how some people can provide a misrepresentation of themselves based on only posting the best aspects of their lives. I have plenty of people who I am friends with who make their lives look far more amazing on Facebook than they actually are in real life.
- Bobby Henderson
