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besson3c · Dec 23, 2009, 07:46 PM

Why is it that everybody on Facebook (and possibly Twitter) wants to post about everything their baby does, but we don't see that on a forum such as this? What about the difference in these mediums accounts for this?

For the record, I don't have a baby that I want to talk about.

turtle777 · Dec 23, 2009, 07:48 PM

This will be a winner.

-t

besson3c · Dec 23, 2009, 08:26 PM

Do you have a baby turtle?

imitchellg5 · Dec 23, 2009, 08:40 PM

Because new parents love their babies? And nobody else wants to listen it so they put it on Twitter.

besson3c · Dec 23, 2009, 08:48 PM

How come nobody here talks about their babies?

turtle777 · Dec 23, 2009, 08:49 PM

Originally Posted by besson3c

How come nobody here talks about their babies?

Because their friends and family are not here, just acquaintances ?

-t

ghporter · Dec 23, 2009, 08:58 PM

A new parent, especially with their first child, is discovering the wonderfulness of babies. This is a powerful and life-changing experience, and it is natural to want to share it with those one tries to keep in touch with.

And I stopped talking about my "baby" about 20 years ago. He's 22 now.

besson3c · Dec 23, 2009, 09:06 PM

Originally Posted by turtle777

Because their friends and family are not here, just acquaintances ?

-t

A lot of people on Facebook are just as much acquaintances as we are all to each other. Former school mates, friends of friends, the milkman, etc.

Most of my Facebook news page thing is all about people's babies.

besson3c · Dec 23, 2009, 09:08 PM

Originally Posted by ghporter

A new parent, especially with their first child, is discovering the wonderfulness of babies. This is a powerful and life-changing experience, and it is natural to want to share it with those one tries to keep in touch with.

And I stopped talking about my "baby" about 20 years ago. He's 22 now.

Some people in here tell stuff about their personal life, such as the big Tooki post about his life. I just find it odd that nobody here seems to want to talk about their babies. Either that, or nobody has any babies here or are not particularly fond of their babies.

ghporter · Dec 23, 2009, 09:10 PM

It could be that nobody has a fresh enough baby experience that it seems appropriate to discuss it here. Wanna hear about mine? Maybe later...

turtle777 · Dec 23, 2009, 09:11 PM

Originally Posted by besson3c

A lot of people on Facebook are just as much acquaintances as we are all to each other. Former school mates, friends of friends, the milkman, etc.

Most of my Facebook news page thing is all about people's babies.

You don't get it, do you ?
All Facebook acquaintances are "by invitation only". People in general are not exhibitionists are extreme extroverts.

-t

besson3c · Dec 23, 2009, 09:30 PM

That's a good point Turtle, can we be friends on Facebook?

Spheric Harlot · Dec 23, 2009, 09:56 PM

Because, frankly, I find that the thought of talking about, let alone posting pics, of my child in a blatantly publicly accessible place where people like you hang around, creeps me the **** out.

I want you as far away from my life as humanly possible.

FTR, I'm also very stingy with what I post on facebook.

besson3c · Dec 23, 2009, 10:02 PM

A lot of my Facebook friends have replaced the pictures of themselves as their profile pic with a picture of their baby. When I'm trying to check them out after not having seen them for a gazillion years I don't really care about their damn baby!

besson3c · Dec 23, 2009, 10:07 PM

Originally Posted by Spheric Harlot

Because, frankly, I find that the thought of talking about, let alone posting pics, of my child in a blatantly publicly accessible place where people like you hang around, creeps me the **** out.

I want you as far away from my life as humanly possible.

FTR, I'm also very stingy with what I post on facebook.

You'd be surprised how normal I am in real life, this is just my play place. I've just never grown out of my play pen! Well, my sense of humor is very abnormal, what you see here is what you get, but I can carry on normal conversations and do all of those normal things that people do. Well, most of them...

Don't you think that some of those people on Facebook that you haven't been in touch with for a very long time might now be pretty creepy too? Is there a huge difference? You say you are stingy as to what you post on Facebook, so this makes sense, but most of the people I see on Facebook are so incredibly open about everything, they'll post about pretty much anything. One guy in my thing posts to let us know he is going to bed!

besson3c · Dec 23, 2009, 10:10 PM

I've been thinking about adding to the "I'm going to work now", "I'm tired" sorts of posts with bizarre mundane stuff like "I'm drinking water", "I'm tying my shoelaces", but I figured that might seem like I'm mocking some people, and some of them know where I live and could punch me in the mouth!

Doofy · Dec 23, 2009, 10:12 PM

I'm going to bed now. Goodnight MacNN.

besson3c · Dec 23, 2009, 10:15 PM

Originally Posted by Doofy

I'm going to bed now. Goodnight MacNN.

Hehehhe!! Nicely done!

Rumor · Dec 23, 2009, 11:10 PM

Babies aren't as crunchy as an adult, but you still have to watch out for sharp bones.

besson3c · Dec 23, 2009, 11:13 PM

I guess I probably should have called this thread "babies and Facebook"... Oh well.

Railroader · Dec 24, 2009, 01:51 AM

Originally Posted by Spheric Harlot

Because, frankly, I find that the thought of talking about, let alone posting pics, of my child in a blatantly publicly accessible place where people like you hang around, creeps me the **** out.

I want you as far away from my life as humanly possible.

FTR, I'm also very stingy with what I post on facebook.

Six years ago I mad the asinine mistake of posting some pictures of my new born daughter on here. It was the biggest mistake of my life. Literally, it was the biggest mistake of my life.

A lot of long time members know what happened, hopefully they learned from my mistake. Whenever I have seen people post pictures of their new born babies or young children I will PM them and tell them what happened to me.

What I post on facebook is only accessible to facebook "friends". In general, my life is pretty public given the nature of my employment, but I still cherish my children's privacy.

People who do not have children do not realize that they are a vital part of your life. Putting them in your profile is not strange when you are a parent. I don't do it, but I see it as perfectly normal. Currently my profile picture is me taking a picture of myself.

moonmonkey · Dec 24, 2009, 02:15 AM

Originally Posted by Rumor

Babies aren't as crunchy as an adult, but you still have to watch out for sharp bones.

Reported.

phantomdragonz · Dec 24, 2009, 02:59 AM

Originally Posted by Railroader

Six years ago I mad the asinine mistake of posting some pictures of my new born daughter on here. It was the biggest mistake of my life. Literally, it was the biggest mistake of my life..

I have been around for awhile... I must have missed this.

what happened?

-Zach

mattyb · Dec 24, 2009, 06:25 AM

Originally Posted by Railroader

Six years ago I mad the asinine mistake of posting some pictures of my new born daughter on here. It was the biggest mistake of my life. Literally, it was the biggest mistake of my life.

A lot of long time members know what happened, hopefully they learned from my mistake. Whenever I have seen people post pictures of their new born babies or young children I will PM them and tell them what happened to me.

What I post on facebook is only accessible to facebook "friends". In general, my life is pretty public given the nature of my employment, but I still cherish my children's privacy.

People who do not have children do not realize that they are a vital part of your life. Putting them in your profile is not strange when you are a parent. I don't do it, but I see it as perfectly normal. Currently my profile picture is me taking a picture of myself.

Having posted pictures of my kids here, I would really like to know what happened, and how you fixed it.

OldManMac · Dec 24, 2009, 08:10 AM

I would suspect that the reason people don't do that here is because this is a social network which more or less revolves around computers, and it is not people you actually have met (for the most part). All of my facebook friends are people that I know, work with, socialize with, etc., and they're more interested in what's going on in my life, especially the one I don't see as often. There's more of a connection among us.

Spheric Harlot · Dec 24, 2009, 08:49 AM

How maladjusted/socially inept do you have to Be to need this explained to you, though?

SpaceMonkey · Dec 24, 2009, 01:13 PM

Also, given how awesome we are about ripping people a new one over various things (see iM@k's favorite quote, Laminar's inability to have sex with his wife, etc.) I'm not surprised people with babies don't want to subject their pictures, stories, etc. to the wisdom of the crowd.

besson3c · Dec 24, 2009, 01:26 PM

Originally Posted by SpaceMonkey

Also, given how awesome we are about ripping people a new one over various things (see iM@k's favorite quote, Laminar's inability to have sex with his wife, etc.) I'm not surprised people with babies don't want to subject their pictures, stories, etc. to the wisdom of the crowd.

That's an interesting point too... Why is it that we can be so brutally mean to each other here, but we never see "I don't care about your stupid baby, jerk" on Facebook?

turtle777 · Dec 24, 2009, 02:28 PM

Originally Posted by besson3c

That's an interesting point too... Why is it that we can be so brutally mean to each other here, but we never see "I don't care about your stupid baby, jerk" on Facebook?

Dude, sorry, I know it's Christmas, and you're all excited. Maybe that clouds your understanding.
Do you still not get that the MAIN difference is the level of friendship and engagement ?

People in Facebook are *REAL* friends, they care.

People at 'NN are random jerks like me, they don't really care all that much. At least not for everybody.

Is it so hard to see how that makes a difference in the way people interact ?

-t

Spheric Harlot · Dec 24, 2009, 02:40 PM

I think it's just besson's online persona being willfully and obnoxiously stupid.

Somebody just take the ****er out back and shoot him.

I'm done here.

besson3c · Dec 24, 2009, 02:42 PM

Originally Posted by turtle777

Dude, sorry, I know it's Christmas, and you're all excited. Maybe that clouds your understanding.
Do you still not get that the MAIN difference is the level of friendship and engagement ?

People in Facebook are *REAL* friends, they care.

People at 'NN are random jerks like me, they don't really care all that much. At least not for everybody.

Is it so hard to see how that makes a difference in the way people interact ?

-t

Do you really think that those people with 1000 Facebook friends have 1000 friends that really care and are not just acquaintances like we are to each other here? I agree that you're more likely to come across people that care on Facebook, but to those avid users that are addicted and have 1000 friends and write mundane updates, I'm pretty sure most of their friends are also acquaintances.

besson3c · Dec 24, 2009, 02:45 PM

Originally Posted by Spheric Harlot

I think it's just besson's online persona being willfully and obnoxiously stupid.

Somebody just take the ****er out back and shoot him.

I'm done here.

Merry Christmas!!

Spheric Harlot · Dec 24, 2009, 02:45 PM

Why don't you ask people who have 1000 facebook friends, rather than 50?

turtle777 · Dec 24, 2009, 02:46 PM

Originally Posted by Spheric Harlot

I think it's just besson's online persona being willfully and obnoxiously stupid.

Somebody just take the ****er out back and shoot him.

I'm done here.

I didn't want to accuse him or trolling because it's Xmas. But it for sure feels like it.

-t

besson3c · Dec 24, 2009, 03:02 PM

Originally Posted by Spheric Harlot

Why don't you ask people who have 1000 facebook friends, rather than 50?

How would you suggest I direct such a question not knowing anything about people's Facebook habits in here?

Spheric Harlot · Dec 24, 2009, 03:45 PM

You know, I remember this great technique from before there was the Internet (it helped me not get beat up in middle school):

1. Come up with a question.

2. Shut up.

3. Close the door.

4. Think.

5a. If this brought results, keep shutting up and apply results when appropriate, if at all.
5b. If the question requires further clarification, keep shutting up about it for a day or so, and then ask friends/acquaintances (substitute the Internet forum if you have none).

Not to be mean, but if you followed those simple rules, I assume your posting rate here would drop to close to zero.

Chuckit · Dec 24, 2009, 03:58 PM

People also randomly quote hip-hop lyrics and post what they're eating on Facebook. Facebook is for things no one gives a crap about, hence baby photos. That's my assumption.

besson3c · Dec 24, 2009, 04:05 PM

I enjoy getting other thoughts and opinions from other people. Sometimes they affect my own opinions, other times I just want to know what some of the alternative arguments are and precisely how they would be argued so that I can refine my own thinking. Sometimes I want to get other people to think, and sometimes I just want to have fun bantering back and forth about something.

Believe me, I think about **** all the time. What you see here is a small subset of the stuff I think about, that's just me and who I am.

besson3c · Dec 24, 2009, 04:06 PM

Originally Posted by Chuckit

People also randomly quote hip-hop lyrics and post what they're eating on Facebook. Facebook is for things no one gives a crap about, hence baby photos. That's my assumption.

I agree, although the odd thing about baby photos is that they seem like the sort of thing that people either really love or really don't care about. I think that some people genuinely like seeing baby photos, even if they aren't particularly connected to the parent.

Railroader · Dec 25, 2009, 01:28 AM

Originally Posted by phantomdragonz

I have been around for awhile... I must have missed this.

what happened?

-Zach

It happened late 2003.

I posted a picture of my first born child when she was a month old, and someone decided that they would use that picture to attack me by photoshopping it up in vile and disgusting ways and posting it on here.

Originally Posted by mattyb

Having posted pictures of my kids here, I would really like to know what happened, and how you fixed it.

I fixed it by being a lot less open on here and realizing that complete wack-jobs will attack your children in attempts to anger you. I realized that some people can have truly despicable and disgusting behavior, with zero regard for what they are truly doing. To be honest I still carry some of the anger with me to this day.

When I saw you post your kid's picture on here I thought about warning you, but that person was perma-banned at that point. Unfortunately he's back.

Spheric Harlot · Dec 25, 2009, 04:44 AM

Yeah, but he's all grown up now.

brassplayersrock² · Dec 25, 2009, 05:31 AM

Originally Posted by Spheric Harlot

Yeah, but he's all grown up now.

Not from what I've seen.

Spheric Harlot · Dec 25, 2009, 05:36 AM

Sorry - should've realized that the Christmas spirit would wipe out any sarcasm.

mattyb · Dec 25, 2009, 07:46 AM

Originally Posted by Railroader

It happened late 2003.

I posted a picture of my first born child when she was a month old, and someone decided that they would use that picture to attack me by photoshopping it up in vile and disgusting ways and posting it on here.

I fixed it by being a lot less open on here and realizing that complete wack-jobs will attack your children in attempts to anger you. I realized that some people can have truly despicable and disgusting behavior, with zero regard for what they are truly doing. To be honest I still carry some of the anger with me to this day.

When I saw you post your kid's picture on here I thought about warning you, but that person was perma-banned at that point. Unfortunately he's back.

Thankyou for this information, I am going to edit my posts here to try and remove links and photos of my kids.

Matt

Spheric Harlot · Dec 25, 2009, 09:10 AM

It might be mentioned that the two had a rather nasty personal feud going on at the time.

It's pretty safe to say that if you don't fight with Rob about cars and have the gall to know what you're talking about, he won't 'shop your loved ones.

Spheric Harlot · Dec 25, 2009, 09:17 AM

On topic, but not related to the above:

I remember reading a while ago about a woman who collected baby photos off an online forum, became member of a mothers' forum, and passed them off as her own. This went on for months, until somebody recognized a photo.

*That* is creepy.

mattyb · Dec 25, 2009, 09:29 AM

Originally Posted by Spheric Harlot

It might be mentioned that the two had a rather nasty personal feud going on at the time.

It's pretty safe to say that if you don't fight with Rob about cars and have the gall to know what you're talking about, he won't 'shop your loved ones.

Circumstances like you mentioned aren't enough to warrent taking photos of someone's kids and 'shopping them. Thats just sick.

Phileas · Dec 25, 2009, 10:15 AM

There was a long and ongoing feud between two people who are deep down very much alike - and although Rob was seriously off his rocker at the time there was also a healthy amount of goading coming from RR. This didn't happen in a vacuum, I really don't think you have anything to worry about.

That didn't excuse the photoshopping, which was tasteless, and an asshat thing to do.

Spheric Harlot · Dec 25, 2009, 10:40 AM

Originally Posted by mattyb

Circumstances like you mentioned aren't enough to warrent taking photos of someone's kids and 'shopping them. Thats just sick.

I agree completely. In fact, I don't think there are *any* circumstances at all that warrant maliciously photoshopping anothers' loved ones.

And I think it's really sad that you need to keep in mind that this place is populated in part by psychos who might just happen to be distracted enough by other goings-on in their life that you're passing under their radar for the time being.

turtle777 · Dec 25, 2009, 07:06 PM

Originally Posted by Phileas

There was a long and ongoing feud between two people who are deep down very much alike - and although Rob was seriously off his rocker at the time there was also a healthy amount of goading coming from RR. This didn't happen in a vacuum, I really don't think you have anything to worry about.

That didn't excuse the photoshopping, which was tasteless, and an asshat thing to do.

Very good roundup, I wholeheartedly agree with.

I could imagine that Rob actually realized today how farked up it was what he had done. He might not admit it in public, but he's had enough of Karma biting his ass recently to understand that he has been part of the problem, not just a victim.

-t