We all have a Rick. A Rick lives to update his friends through his Facebook statuses and gets a deep satisfaction from comments, likes and wall posts. A Rick also isn’t afraid to jump in on his own status and comment if he feels it’s appropriate. It’s the Ricks of the world that keep me coming back to Facebook, whether or not I want to admit it. Of course I make fun of my Rick occasionally, but you have to admit Ricks are usually pretty interesting people.
Last week my Rick decided to do a stand-up comedy performance. If you weren’t invited to his event page he made about his upcoming performance (a classic Rick move), you could follow him from his training to his post-performance activities via his statuses. Here’s a week in the life of Rick’s status:
After doing a Google search for my Rick, I was surprised he had his Facebook profile hidden from the public. This I thought was very interesting. If you’re not Rick’s friend, you can’t see anything about him. The second he accepts your friendship, you’ve entered Rick’s world and you’re going to know about his comedy performances, passion for the Packers and photos he got tagged in. You’re going to know everything about Rick.
It’s important to note here a Rick should not be confused with a user who’s main goal is to have as many friends as possible. A Rick is also not on Twitter because he doesn’t waste his time or energy on people he doesn’t know. A Rick keeps his audience smaller and is selective about his updates, always trying to get a reaction. In turn, a Rick does develop some close and engaging followers. Sure a Rick can be as ridiculous as anyone in his updates. You might even feel embarrassed for a Rick once in a while, but overall, you probably like your Rick and are glad he let you into his Facebook world.
Well, if you’ve read this far, you’re probably itching to know about how successful Rick’s status week was. You’re lucky because I’m going to tell you. Ricks status stats: 24 likes, 17 comments and 10 wall posts all stemming from his comedy performance statuses. It was a good week. Even for a Rick.
Rick reminds me a lot of "Phil" who I followed for my entry. Phil also will provide updates throughout an important event in his life, similar to Rick's standup, almost hoping that his whole facebook community will rally behind him by commenting or likeing his statuses.
ReplyDeleteFrom a psychological perspective I think it would be interesting to look how social network sites like Facebook can impact someone's self-esteem or self-efficacy because it does seem like some people really do value their interactions on facebook.
First of all, believe it or not, I know who this "Rick" is...and I was invited to his stand up performance. I was unable to attend because of a test the following day, but thanks to Rick's technological savviness I was able to watch the action from my own computer just days later. Of course we all know the "Ricks" of Facebook, we just happen to share one "Rick" acquaintance. Luckily for us, new technologies have made these "Ricks" even more apparent (if that was at all possible)
ReplyDeleteWhile these types of Facebook users are entertaining and fun to follow, I think we all have a little "Rick" in us. Anyone who has posted photos, changed their profile picture or friended a stranger from a far is definitely a little self indulged....and why shouldn't we be? Personal Facebook pages are a gateway into someone's life and strangers looking in can learn a lot.
Some users choose to hid tagged photos, while others freely leave theirs open to the public eye. Either way, users can be judged on their content, their friends content, number of friends, number of likes, posts, videos and photos ect. It's only natural to want to flaunt what you are proud of when you think hundreds of people are following. Only when we over estimate how much people care about our daily routines and minute updates do we truly turn into a "Rick" user.
Let's be honest though...who would want to be on Facebook if it didn't offer millions of different insights and information (whether you want it or not) about millions of people from all around the world, only with the click of a mouse? Even if it means scrolling through a few "Rick" updates, Facebook offers us a place to share about ourselves. How much we share is up to us.
I think one of the best uses of Facebook, as demonstrated by Rick, is organizing people for events and getting feedback afterwards. Because almost everyone has a Facebook, it has replaced mass texting or calling as a way of coordinating people to get together. The Facebook "News Feed" provides an excellent source of free advertising for an event too. I like how Rick was able to generate awareness for his standup show and then continue to thank those who showed up. This allowed him to garner support and receive comments on his performance. Facebook is about "give and take" and it seems like the more he gives out, the more people comment back.
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