Friday, October 23, 2009
There's Something About Your Facebook
Like millions of people, I have a Facebook page. I check it daily, mostly to see what my group of friends are up to and to send out birthday greetings. I personally know almost all of these people. The few I don't know are friends of friends who have been suggested to me by friends. I have a feeling that most people who are on Facebook do the same.
For the few out there who don't know, a profile picture is your face of your Facebook, as it were. Some use pretty standard photos, some use head shots, some use funny pictures of themselves. I have a friend that uses a picture of her feet in her house slippers. My wife uses a picture of our dog. My friend Mert Rich, a fellow Second City alum, uses a picture of George Clooney. Mert does not look like George Clooney.
My profile picture is a picture my wife took of me and our dog lying side-by-side, looking at the camera, at the foot of our bed. The picture is not retouched in any way. I look younger than my years, but if you were to put the photo next to an old picture of me, you'd see that I have definitely aged.
The only 'work' I have had done, other than the removal of a mole I didn't like, have been medically necessary. It is only the blessed accident of genetics that makes me look as young as I do.
At the right-hand side of the home page near the top, there is a place called "Suggestions" which is mostly people that I may click on to add to my 'friends' list, or fan sites that friends of mine subscribe to.
I take a look at these suggestions fairly regularly as well, mostly to see if someone I actually know pops up. The software decides who will be listed there by analyzing the friends lists of my friends. Every once in a while I'll click on this list of strangers or vaguely familiar names to see how I am connected to these people. Here and there I'll find people who have no known connection to me, and I'll check the x box to rid the page of these people. Immediately new ones pop up.
Readers of Rob's News know that I have worked with some celebrities over the years, so it should come as no surprise that some celebrities pop up as people I may know. Some of them I do know, some I have met briefly, and some are friends of friends that I have never met. Some are like those people with which I have no known connection.
Yesterday Al Jardine popped up. I have never met Al Jardine, and I don't think anyone I know is acquainted with him. I clicked on his name without clicking on the friend request button. I wanted to read his description and see if we had mutual friends. He has all of his information, including his friend list blocked from view, so I have no way of knowing if we do have any mutual friends. There is just his profile picture.
His profile picture looks like it came from a press packet for The Beach Boys 1965 tour. I have a feeling he no longer looks like this, seeing as 44 years have passed. If he does look like this, then he's the Rock & Roll Dorian Gray.
Dave Mason is on my friends list. We're not close friends, but we are actually acquainted. His profile picture does not look like a Traffic album cover from 1970. He looks like himself, unashamed of his vintage. Bravo, Dave. You're a damn fine musician and a good, unpretentious guy.
Al- take a lesson from Dave. People out in internet-land and in the Rock & Roll blogosphere know you by name. We don't have to see a forty-year-old picture of you to figure it out. Show us the real you. Or at least your picture in the attic.
For the few out there who don't know, a profile picture is your face of your Facebook, as it were. Some use pretty standard photos, some use head shots, some use funny pictures of themselves. I have a friend that uses a picture of her feet in her house slippers. My wife uses a picture of our dog. My friend Mert Rich, a fellow Second City alum, uses a picture of George Clooney. Mert does not look like George Clooney.
My profile picture is a picture my wife took of me and our dog lying side-by-side, looking at the camera, at the foot of our bed. The picture is not retouched in any way. I look younger than my years, but if you were to put the photo next to an old picture of me, you'd see that I have definitely aged.
The only 'work' I have had done, other than the removal of a mole I didn't like, have been medically necessary. It is only the blessed accident of genetics that makes me look as young as I do.
At the right-hand side of the home page near the top, there is a place called "Suggestions" which is mostly people that I may click on to add to my 'friends' list, or fan sites that friends of mine subscribe to.
I take a look at these suggestions fairly regularly as well, mostly to see if someone I actually know pops up. The software decides who will be listed there by analyzing the friends lists of my friends. Every once in a while I'll click on this list of strangers or vaguely familiar names to see how I am connected to these people. Here and there I'll find people who have no known connection to me, and I'll check the x box to rid the page of these people. Immediately new ones pop up.
Readers of Rob's News know that I have worked with some celebrities over the years, so it should come as no surprise that some celebrities pop up as people I may know. Some of them I do know, some I have met briefly, and some are friends of friends that I have never met. Some are like those people with which I have no known connection.
Yesterday Al Jardine popped up. I have never met Al Jardine, and I don't think anyone I know is acquainted with him. I clicked on his name without clicking on the friend request button. I wanted to read his description and see if we had mutual friends. He has all of his information, including his friend list blocked from view, so I have no way of knowing if we do have any mutual friends. There is just his profile picture.
His profile picture looks like it came from a press packet for The Beach Boys 1965 tour. I have a feeling he no longer looks like this, seeing as 44 years have passed. If he does look like this, then he's the Rock & Roll Dorian Gray.
Dave Mason is on my friends list. We're not close friends, but we are actually acquainted. His profile picture does not look like a Traffic album cover from 1970. He looks like himself, unashamed of his vintage. Bravo, Dave. You're a damn fine musician and a good, unpretentious guy.
Al- take a lesson from Dave. People out in internet-land and in the Rock & Roll blogosphere know you by name. We don't have to see a forty-year-old picture of you to figure it out. Show us the real you. Or at least your picture in the attic.
Comments:
<< Home
Hi, Rob: Am I the friend of whom you speak who uses a picture of her feet? If so, I realized you may not know why I do that. In January this year, I fell down a flight of stairs and broke all the metatarsols in my left foot. This required a 5 hour surgery to repair and a follow-up surgery in July to re-break one of the bones which hadn't healed correctly.
I've spent most of the year in a boot, or tennis shoes and I've done a lot of physical therapy. I'll probably never be able to wear high heels again for longer than an hour at a stretch.
But the foot thing started as an update and then became somewhat of a running gag - what shoes can Marian get on her feet today?
Post a Comment
I've spent most of the year in a boot, or tennis shoes and I've done a lot of physical therapy. I'll probably never be able to wear high heels again for longer than an hour at a stretch.
But the foot thing started as an update and then became somewhat of a running gag - what shoes can Marian get on her feet today?
# posted by 
: November 2, 2009 at 12:20 AM
: November 2, 2009 at 12:20 AM << Home
