Reactivation Wrap Up

Most people STILL wake up in the morning with the first thought “what’s the weather like today?” I STILL wake up thinking “I wonder if someone wrote on my wall last night…”  

What have I learned from being off Facebook for 40 days/40 nights? That I am indeed an addict, no joke about it. I was depressed without Facebook. In fact you should have seen how giddy I was with excitement on Saturday knowing I was only 24 hours without it. I logged back into my account at exactly midnight (sad, I know) and was up for a good two hours trying to learn the new Facebook layout – wasn’t that hard to catch onto, so okay I was mainly just catching up on friend’s updates. The new layout, by the way, is certainly not my favorite. Thankfully the “news feed” homepage still exists on my phone so I can check up on updates that way, unlike the new Twitter status feature look-a-like Facebook now has as it’s homepage. 

Have I signed on Twitter now that I am back on Facebook? Yes, I still have a very strong liking for Twitter because of the similarity it shares with Facebook. Although, I never used as much as I thought I would, but I will to use it – just less frequently. My texting has remained the same, but that could have been a whole other blog about 40 days/night without texting (yikes!). And emails? Scarce again. It’s back to write on walls and Facebook messaging.

Before I deactivated, I never really noticed the marketing techniques that were being used through Facebook (because my focus was soley on checking updated profiles). Now I have a close eye on things like side advertisements, fan pages, or Facebook group companies have started in order to reach out to consumers. The best way companies are going to be able to reach the attention of someone in my generation, or even younger, will be through the various social media groups, Facebook being the number one. I have started to notice when visiting company’s website, most have a link to Facebook or Twitter at the bottom of their homepage. Advertising and marketing are tough these days since everything can be found on the internet – TV shows, magazines, newspapers, etc., so it is important to stay up to speed and current with social norms.  The way a company will come out on top, for the time being at least, is to connect with consumers using these specific internet networks.

At least it is a known fact that my life just cannot survive without the social media network that is currently the biggest phenomenon on the internet. I talked to my mom tonight and when she picked up the phone she said, “Wow, Elizabeth, I haven’t heard from you now that you are back on Facebook.” Called out. In fact just last night I thought, you know I don’t need to go on Facebook tonight, but let me just check this one thing…I ended up staying on for 30 minutes. 

I still may be a Facebook addict, but I am proud of myself for never once reactivating myself. It was a long, tough road and I made it. It was quite the experience and I am very sure I will never do it again. I was freed for a brief moment, but once the moment passed, I was lost without my account.

I will forever be in love with Facebook and the thrill of being so connected. Is that so wrong?

Back to [Social Media] Reality

Believe it or not, I, Elizabeth Stiles, have made it without Facebook for 40 days and 40 nights. 

As we approach the end of the Lenten season, each of us begin to reflect on what we have given up. What have we learned from our experience? Did we gain anything? How does this make us feel? 40 days ago, I contemplated what I was going to give up for Lent. When someone mentioned giving up Facebook, I froze. No way was I about to cut myself off from the most popular social media network on the internet. Then I thought about it, Facebook really has become an addiction of mine over the past 5 years. I deactivated my account February 25, 2009. 

Personally, I did not think I was going to be able to make it without Facebook for the whole 40 days/40 nights. The first week was terrible. I complained a lot, mostly about how I felt like I had no connection to anyone anymore (keep in mind, I have over 1000 Facebook friends). As the days went by, I found other ways of connecting with friends such as emails, text messages, and actual phone conversations. Except I still felt cut off from other people who I only interacted socially with on Facebook. I signed up for a fast growing social media network, Twitter, to help keep me occupied and follow friends (which made me feel a little better). Thankfully, I did not  pick up an addiction to Twitter as I have with Facebook – at least not yet.

To be honest, I felt out of the loop without Facebook. My friends would say I was not missing too much by being off Facebook because the changed format was too confusing and nothing “exciting” was being updated. Please – there is always something exciting on Facebook! But that’s not the only reason why I felt disconnected. It may have been because I was paying more attention to social media networks due to my deactivation, but I noticed anywhere I was everyone was talking about Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and many other emerging social media networks (or maybe it was just haunting me). It is the hot topic these days and I was not affiliated with the biggest one of them all! I truly felt outdated.

I have learned that Facebook is a valuable tool that can be used in so many different ways, depending on the direction you take with it. When I first joined Facebook in 2004, I did not think it could ever reach the 200 million users it has today. People are joining Facebook to connect with old friends, family members, colleagues, classmates, professors, etc. Being off Facebook, I felt a disconnect from these people, not in a stalkerish way, but in a “hey, what’s new in your life?” type of way. Others are trying to use Facebook as a marketing tool for their company’s advertising purposes and some simply use it to market themselves and network. I will still think of Facebook as a strong social internet site, but do believe it will emerge greatly over the next few months (as it has already started) into a powerful marketing and advertising tool.

Will I remain a Facebook addict? To answer this question, for now, I will say no. I have to start thinking about drawing the line between necessary recent information versus the obsession with always being on top of updated photos/interests on everyone’s profile. But then again, isn’t that what Facebook is supposed to give us? We shall see how long this lasts…

It is time for me to return back to the social media world that we live in today. And what will my Easter Sunday schedule look like? Setting an early morning alarm,  reactivate my Facebook account and head to church. Then it’s me, a chocolate bunny, and Facebook all day long. 

The Home Stretch

I cannot begin to describe the excitement I feel about being able to say this… I have only 3 days until I am officially re-activate back on Facebook!!! I have been overly giddy these past few days and I truly believe it comes from the feeling of knowing how close (yet so far) I am to signing back on Facebook. Although, I am a little hesitant. 

Unfortunately, I was not active during the change to the new Facebook and that’s a little frightening. I was confident to say I was a Facebook expert pre-change, and now I only hope I will not be lost. I am actually helping a new member learn the way of Facebook, so I am not blind to the change. It is helping me become accustomed to the new version, but makes me very nervous at the same time. I have faith in myself that after a day or so I will get into the swing of things or so we can only hope.

Other minor (okay, major) things I am concerned about re-activating my account is that I find it abnormal about the fact that I have not updated my profile picture in over 40 days and I won’t be tagged in recent photo albums my friends uploaded…and worst of all, I will have no new wall posts from the last 40 days – that’s insane! Not to mention, I have a ton of photo albums and Facebook profile updates to catch up on. 

Will be noticed that I am back on Facebook? Will I still have an addiction with stalking once I re-activate? Will I do anything differently in the way I post on Facebook? All these questions will have to wait until Sunday (eeeeek!) to find out the answers…

The Forgotten Birthday

I always thought I had a good memory for remembering friend’s birthday. Although, this may have been due to my reliance on Facebook Birthday reminders. Yesterday, I realized I forgot one my good friend’s birthday which was almost a week ago! I have no excuses since we have been friends since the second grade, but a little reminder from Facebook would have been nice. I think everyone can agree – secretly, it is one of the best ways to remember a birthday. Sorry, Coll, Happy Belated Birthday!

PS the countdown to re-activation has finally begun: ONE WEEK

The Relationship Status

Relationship Status: SINGLE

There it is, for everyone out there to see. Well, not exactly. On my current (on hold, while deactivated) profile I chose not to display any relationship status on my page. Therefore, my friends actually cannot see if I am single, in a relationship, complicated, engaged, or married. So, what does each status portray?

ENGAGED/MARRIED: Not to state the obvious, but this relationship status usually means as it says – the person is either engaged or married. However, younger generations often see it as a way to hide the fact they are single by being married to one of their good friends. I cringe as I type this, sophomore year I was one of those people, married to a friend. Okay, moving on because I like to forget about the Facebook faux pas I made as a youngin’…

IN A RELATIONSHIP: In our generation, and yes it is sad – but true, a relationship isn’t completely official unless it is on Facebook. Although it becomes “official” on Facebook, this status usually is a cause of many problems in relationships. Some issues include, and are not limited to: one person having the relationship status shown and the other not or one not accepting the other’s relationship request. If it is a new relationship, everyone will become aware once made public on Facebook. If the relationship has broken, everyone will become aware once made public on Facebook. When the status goes from “in a relationship” to “single,” it is clear something has happened and it becomes hurtful. I hate to be that girl, but what are you supposed to do when a friend is dumped and you heard about from …. Facebook?! Imagine the phone conversation, “Hey Friend, I saw you aren’t in a relationship anymore on Facebook, do you want me to bring you some ice cream?” Awkward. There can be a lot of heartbreak and pressure there. An article I found stated that when a guy broke up with his girl, he received about 400 messages/calls/etc. just because he had changed his status. Will this be the future of society’s relationships? Oh I hope not!

IN AN OPEN RELTIONSHIP/ IT’S COMPLICATED: I put these two together because I am honestly not sure why these are choices. First of all, does anyone really how to define an open relationship? Shouldn’t you just classify yourself as single? And is it true that people actually want to show their complicated relationship on their profile? These options seem odd to me, but these are also very popular amoung the younger crowd to connect with their good friends. “Sarah is in an open relationship with Suzie,” again hiding the fact they are both single OR in fact one may be in a relationship, but does not want to end his/her friendship relationship. (*Another tricky situation: How to end a friendship relationship? It can be a little uncomfortable, but you just have to realize you are just taking it down from the internet – you are not actually ending your friendship.)

SINGLE: Following from the statement above, this may show a clear sign to everyone that you are single and out there. This may also just be a personal choice to show your relationship status. Along with your status you can also post “interested in:” friendship, dating, a relationship, networking. I had to have one of my friend’s look that up for me, because if I remember correctly, the older Facebook had more options for interested in, such as, “whatever I can get” or “random play,” thank goodness these options were removed.

NO STATUS: This is what my profile is currently. It creates no drama and for some, it creates mystery. Others just don’t want it to be displayed, period.

No matter what your status, each individual likes to express themselves differently. I would like to know what your status is and why you chose to display it that way. Comment below!

The Message vs. Wall Post

Phone call? Text message? Email? Facebook wall post? Facebook message? Poke? Twitter direct message? Twitter @reply? LinkedIn message? With all the social media tools out there these days, everyone is left wondering, “What is the best way to get in touch with someone?” 

Let’s take a step back and assess the Facebook situation. With the help of my former college roommate, the question proposes: What is the difference between writing on a friend’s wall versus sending them a message? First difference, the privacy. When writing on a wall, you are sharing your comments for the public to see. You may be writing to say it’s been awhile, a funny inside joke, a YouTube finding, a live video message (these are embarrassing - but extremely fun/hilarious), a countdown of some sort, just to say hi… you get my point. When a poster writes on a friend’s wall, it is only proper to write back.  On the old Facebook, the News Feed on the homepage would display other’s wall posts. So is the purpose of a wall post intentional for all eyes to see? 

If there is email and wall-posts, why is there a personal Facebook message feature? Is it more personal than a wall post? What’s more exciting – a wall post or a message? Personally, I’m a fan on the wall posts, but it is always interesting to see who messages are from. Some think messages are creepy because they are too private, especially if you aren’t friends with the messenger. Others find it the easiest and most convenient way to stay in touch with a friend via the thread. Threads can be formed with many people in order to send a generic message. The only intention of a thread is for the eyes of the message receivers and will never show up on the News Feed. 

In my experience, I see messages used most commonly to promote an event or Facebook group. In fact, I once was the overbearing user of Facebook messaging when trying to promote an event last year for a market research project. Our group came up with the idea to host an event and research the best ways to get students to attend. One of our most effective ways to publicize our project was to create a Facebook event and invite all our connections (there were 5 of us in the group, so our list of friends ranged greatly). During the week of our event, we sent out messages reminding attendees of the details. Each message sent was a different reminder including: where the event was and what time, description of the charity profits would be supporting, what activities would be held at the event, prizes given away, the foods/beverage specials, etc. According to one of our survey questions, “How did you find out about this event?” 80% chose Facebook as their number one source, 15% said word of mouth, 5% responded to posters hung at the event site 2 weeks prior to the date of the event. A few attendees even said we may have sent out too many messages, but when looking at the facts, it was the most successful tool – over 200 attended!

Now for the question of the hour  - What the heck is a Facebook Poke? (Okay, back up, do people even poke each other these days?) When you poke someone, you are getting their attention in a different way than what a message or wall post might send them. If you are good enough friends with the person, a poke is harmless and the meaning is purely humor. However, sometimes poking is taken too far and becomes inappropriately odd! Please share your thoughts on the poke. I’m not quite sure if anyone really still knows the answer to this question.

Next time you want to communicate with someone through Facebook, think about what you are really trying to convey. (well, don’t think THAT hard…it’s just a message for goodness sake!) Don’t leave me hanging, though, I want to know: why do you use wall posting instead of Facebook messaging/threads or vice versa? 

The Twitter Introduction

About an hour after I deactivated myself from Facebook, I thought I had shut social media out of my life for the next 40 days. That quickly changed, I was introduced to Twitter.

Now Twitter in no way could fill my satisfaction of Facebook, but I have learned to love it. Twitter is very similar to a status update, you can receive information from the sources you choose to follow. For instance, I can receive Facebook updates and changes from Mark Zuckerburg (http://twitter.com/finkd) but I don’t necessarily have to “friend” him via Facebook. I choose to follow him, and unfortunately, he chooses not to follow back. In a way, it fills my stalker void. I have loved to get to know Twitter and started following different bloggers like myself, famous websites, my college newspaper, coworkers, and old classmates. Since I first joined at the end of February, I have seen the number of my college friends joining Twitter increase significantly. So then, is Twitter a fad?

What about all social networking? How long will it last – will it crash? Will the social media networks eventually merge into one? If so, which one? In my opinion – not that I am biased or anything – I think Twitter will eventually merge with Facebook. Talk in the media has already surfaced this idea, but Twitter turned Facebook down. However, Facebook quickly came up with a new homepage that is strikingly similar to Twitter (and yes, I have been able to this homepage with a few peaks on other’s computers) and I believe I am able to understand it because of my practice with Twitter. 

Will Facebook become the merger over all social media? What about LinkedIn? I don’t think Facebook could ever become a professional network due to the amount of personal information that is shared. It is a “fun” site and it is certainly not just for college kids anymore. Facebook’s age group ranges from 13 (http://tiny.cc/nw72v ) to the age of 102 (http://tiny.cc/9lzAJ ). LinkedIn has an average age of 35 and adheres to company information, resumes, and interest groups. College students are still in the early stages of learning the importance of LinkedIn, but know Facebook like the back of their hand. While business professionals are extremely aware of the advantage the networking tool LinkedIn has to offer, but just getting to know what Facebook is all about.

Social media has skyrocketed. Whether you are posting your personal blog on Twitter, updating a photo album on Facebook, or creating business on LinkedIn; you are networking online to keep in touch, keep yourself updated, in the know, and keeping up with sustainable relationships.

Which is why I am feeling lost without Facebook. Sorry, I had to say it!

The 25 Things Learned Without Facebook

The 25 Things I’ve done with myself without Facebook:

1. How to write a blog (this is my first one!)
2. I have learned that writing about yourself is hard work.
3. How to “tweet” aka signed up for Twitter – yes, I quickly moved from one social media network to another, and fast. Updates on Twitter addiction in next blog…
4. Actually get a full 8 hours of sleep, no more stalking in bed
5. I have learned to start a conversation without saying, “well when I was on Facebook today..”
6. I have started to reading the newspaper instead of checking my wall-to-wall posts
7. Started to read a book. Mind you – it’s called Quarter Life Crisis
8. Correspond to family and friends via the phone
9. Correspond to family and friends via e-mail (more so than before)
10. However, I now appreciate how much Facebook allows me to stay up to date with my family and friends.
11. Helping me move on from my PCD – Post College Depression
12. I have learned how to sit through an entire movie
13. I am learning how to appreciate different bands and music because of more time spent on iTunes
14. Signed up to volunteer for the Avon walk
15. Started to attend church again (thank you, Lent)
16. How to cook a three course meal
17. Tried learning yoga. only once because I didn’t like it. 
18. Learned to socialize face to face
19. Stopped flaking out and attend happy hours
20. Finally caught up on our television shows
21. I made it through a day, well now days, without thinking who put up new photo albums
22. I made it through a weekend without thinking about de-tags on photo albums (even though this past weekend I had my roommate create a photo album for me on her FB page…was that breaking the rules?)
23. Learned how to make my bed. I have time in the morning now since I am not checking up on status updates
24. Appreciate Chicago by taking long walks by the lake. This may also be due to the weather change, but go with it…
25. And finally, I have learned that life can go on without Facebook.

The Email

Just as I contemplating what my next topic for this blog entry was going to be, I received an email.

Subject: Look what you are missing

Hi Elizabeth,

Come back and reconnect with your friends: Upload photos, update status, and organize events.

Thanks,

The Facebook Team

Well that’s just mean! I guess it’s fair that they don’t know I am off temporarily and if I could I would reactivate right now. Please send me your comments about why I shouldn’t reactivate just yet, help.

 

The Book Turns Five

Happy Belated 5th Birthday to Facebook! 

When a person hits the age of 5, they have been able to graduate from crawling to walking, from having a vocabulary of mama, baba, and dada to completing full sentences, and to having a head approximately the size of an adults. When facebook entered the lives of only the elite college students throughout the country 5 years ago, there were no photo albums, bumper stickers, applications, videos, events, etc. If only we knew what the future of Facebook held for us. Now facebook offers us everything we need and more. Looking back on those memorable 5 years, we’ve seen facebook grow as if it was our own child.

And so here are a stream of photos from each year to show it’s growth… *Side note: some photos are real screen shots from my computer, others are real pages from Mark Zuckerburg tweaked with throwback photos (and yes, I still have some of my old Facebook pictures archived).

Mark Zuckerburg – Facebook Retrospective