What’s Your Social Media Personality?

First of all, a clarification… By “social media” here, I mean “Facebook.”  That’s because, as I’ve said many times, it’s the social media platform for the “Everyman and Everywoman.” With over 1.1 billion (yes, billion) users, Facebook is fairly ubiquitous.  Along with that kind of omnipresence, comes the fact that you have both the initiated and the uninitiated user making his/her her way through there, leading to a wide, but fairly predictable range of “personalities” one will see in his/her newsfeed at any given moment (certainly dependent on the choice of Facebook friends).       

To be fair, personality differences are evident on the other social media platforms as well. It’s just that they, by design, are more subtle. Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn, and Instagram are the platforms I’m addressing. They tend to be populated by the more erudite and sophisticated social media users who are more likely to adhere to the social “norms” on these sites. That leads to a narrower band of personality deviation as their users stay “inside the lines,” or risk being branded as plebian and unknowledgeable.  To a lot of Google + users, Facebook is the “Land of the Unwashed Masses.” To that end, because the typical “Facebooker” isn’t into the vagaries of social media propriety and boundaries, that personalities are more evident – the main reason many Google +’ers abandon Facebook altogether.    

So, without further fanfare, these are the predominant distinct personalities I’ve seen, witnessed, and engaged on Facebook (social media). This list is NOT all-inclusive. Note that I am NOT judging any of these or saying what’s good or what’s bad. They just ARE :

The Life Chronicaler – The person who tells you what they’re doing at any given time, what they didn’t or can’t do because of the weather, a backache, or because they’re tired. They will also tell everyone “goodnight” before retiring.

The Comedian – The person who’s always quick with a joke. They have a retort, a funny witticism, a funny video.

The "Hey, I'm Just Here To Keep Up with My Friends and Family" - This is the official "Facebook Fall-Back Position. After all, that IS why we're there, right? 

The Spammer – The person who makes you think their account’s been hacked because there’s always an ad for purses, athletic shoes, or some other item. Note: these are usually bots or phony accounts.

The Cam Girl – Usually from another country, they friend mostly guys and other Can Girls. They post suggestive or downright explicit pictures and try to get these men to go to their sites and “vote” for them.

The Network Marketer – They are the go-to for a particular product. Their walls are replete with pictures of them winning awards, at seminars, before-afters of people, posts telling you how you can supplement your income, and invitations to seminars and meetings.         

The Business – This is the account known as the name of the business only and interacts as if it’s a “person” with its friends. A select group of “insiders” know the true identity of the account-holder.

The Politico – This person posts incessantly about partisan politics. Need I say more?

   

The Bon Vivant – The partier… Pictures abound of the latest party or event they went to. Several posts appear on their wall of people telling them what a good t time they all had at the latest soirée.

The Traveler – From Amsterdam to Moscow… Back to NYC, then across to Honolulu. They take you with them virtually with great stories and stunning pics.

The Social Media/Business Conglomerate – They have LOTS of Facebook friends, Twitter followers, Google +, and LinkedIn connections, and are all over all the other platforms. Their posts are aimed at THE WORLD, and are of general nature, with little personal information given out.

Not many of us are exclusively one personality. We sometimes exhibit facets of other of these listed above. One does predominate, however. 

Where do you fit? Are there any others you’ve seen?

 That’s the point!

   - Tony