Talk:Kristen Mayer
Kristen,
I enjoyed reading your page because I really felt like I was getting to know a lot about you. I think that you were very honest about who the "real" you is and did a thorough job of assessing how your Facebook profile does and does not reflect who you actually are. In saying that you are a very reserved person and that this is represented by the fact that you only are Facebook friends with 118 people, I am given the sense that you really want to come off as authentic to the people you chose to let see your information. However, under your "Map" section of your page, I found it a bit confusing when you stated that your map reinforces that idea that you are a traveler due to the amount of times you have "checked-in" to places such as Chicago and Washington DC. If you were concerned about expressing authenticity to your selected viewers, you could control the amount of times you "check-in" to certain areas to correctly represent yourself. Perhaps you could elaborate on why u chose not to monitor this aspect as closely as the amount of friends you allow to see your page. In addition, it terms of photos, if you believe you are misrepresented as a "nature lover" why is it that you have chosen such misleading photos for both your cover and profile pictures? I think it was genuine of you to point out these features, so understanding why you haven't made an effort to fix them could be interesting to know. In terms of the quality of your writing, I think that you had a nice flow to your page and a consistent voice. Perhaps you could have labeled each heading more elaborately, as opposed to simply "About", "Photos", and "Map". One aspect that I really liked in your layout was the part under the subheading "About" in the "My Facebook Page" section where you wrote the four key facts about yourself in a simple list format. I think this made a dramatic emphasis on these facts and cued me to believe they were an important guideline to understanding your real self and therefore the rest of your autobiography. Overall, I think you did a really good job at expressing yourself and I gave me a true sense of how authenticity is important to you!
-Lauren Keltz
Much like Lauren, I really enjoyed reading this. Although you posit that you are reserved, I liked that while revealing few (I guess the phrase would be "truly personal") details about yourself, you are nevertheless friendly and present an enjoyable read.
While many people simply listed information about themselves on their profile and did not delve into why they did x or y, I like that you give some background behind your choices. Instead of simply saying that you went to school in Bloomfield Hills, you give an explanation as to why the discrepancy is important and some relevant information about the situation. You were very descriptive often of what assumptions might be drawn from your page, especially in relation to the "Authenticity" portion at the bottom.
My main criticism is that while you do analyze the choices you make in regard to the concept of authenticity, I find myself wondering why you made some of these choices on a deeper level. As Lauren posits, if you find yourself being labeled as a "nature lover" based on your photos, why have you chosen these photos? Because Facebook requires you to make conscious choices about your profile and cover photos, do you think there is a reason you have chosen to emphasize certain parts of your life over others?
I agree that you portray yourself more accurately than some others, but I'm interested in hearing why you think you made the choices you did. It's certainly the underlying question on my mind when I hear you explain what you think your choices show, as while I agree that certain elements of your profile might lead someone to think a certain way, I want to know why you think you consciously (or unconsciously) arranged and presented information in the way you did.
However, that aside, I really liked the photos you included, as they were relevant and well-formatted. The article itself was also well-organized, and partitioned information into easy-to-follow sections. Beyond that, the tone was personal and felt friendly and smooth, never seeming overly analytical or forced. This was a very well-written piece and I enjoyed reading it!
- Aidan Brewster
