Blue Sky Media/Photography (and life in Gotham)

Status Updates - The Need to do it.

I have been thinking alot lately about our need/desire to post status updates (via Facebook, Twitter, etc.).  I was walking home from work yesterday — 4 miles along the Hudson River/Riverside Park and was in awe of the day (60’s, sunny), the energy (bikers, walker, lots of smiles) and attitude (“loving NYC kind of day”).  So my first reaction was to post this via Twitter (to my handful of followers that never respond…but that is the subject of another post…).  Why would I want to do this? I think there are four buckets of updates/posts: 1. you are so excited about something and you want to share it with the world - this is the most altruistic of the posts (e.g. here is the recipe for the amazing cookies I just made; check out this hot new restaurant on the lower East side, etc.); 2. you are doing something really cool and you want to let the world know it — this is the most narcisistic of the posts and the most annoying (e.g. I am at the superbowl and just partied with Flo Rida; The beaches in St Barts are amazing, etc.); and 3. the trivial, and most boring (e.g. TGIF, I am going out for a run now, I love coffee, etc.); and finally 4. the marketer, also narcisistic but at least there is info that people may want to know (e.g. come check out my photo show on April 27 :-), watch me on CNN today at 5 pm).  Each one of these genres captures the personality of the updater — which one are you?  I think I am a little bit of 3 of the 4 (which one am I not?)….