When I decided to work on my personal blog last year, I wanted it to have meaning and purpose. So god only knows why I decided to examine people’s generic status updates. Wait, you’re hungover and it’s only 2pm on a Wednesday afternoon? Good for you! You’ve put a photo up that states if it gets a million likes then that means you’ve helped save that poor kid’s puppy? Have a medal!
After thinking why we were notified of certain updates at particular times, I realised there was a pattern. Just as there was a certain group of people who exhibited similar online behavioural trends by posting the same type of content, I found that they would choose a certain time of day to share such news. For instance, most people are unlikely to share a massive piece of news at say, Tuesday morning around 11am. But leave it to Wednesday evening at around 8pm, I guarantee you’ll have increased your chances of acquiring a like or comment for choosing that specific timeframe. Why? Well d’oh – think about it.
For those employed in a 9-5 routine, they’ll (hopefully) be hard at work and unable to access their Facebook accounts. OK, maybe you’ll have a better chance of your update being noticed on Twitter – most workplaces are quite lenient about that. The problem is it’s a microblogging platform, meaning a micro piece of information will not constitute as a major reason to fully take it in. But hey, don’t tell me you’re actually worried about people showing enough interest in it to actually like it, right? You care more about being able to share relevant pieces of news in the hope of informing and educating others – ‘cause you’re selfless like that, agreed?
For all those that agreed – you’re liars. I wouldn’t even trust you to hold my pen. Yeah, that’s the circle of trust broken right there. But for those honest enough to admit that you enjoy a good ego boost, then much appreciated. We’re human beings, which means we’re curious by nature. Which means not only are we curious about finding out more about others, we’re especially interested in what others think of us. Helloooooooooooo why else do we use our most flattering images as our Facebook profile picture?
So for those who think we’re fully in control of our digital lives, you’re really not. You’ve seen the impact social networking does, and by jove, you want a piece of the online action. Which means waiting until after work when everyone’s rushing home to be glued to the screen (after their eyes being burned courtesy of a screen for eight hours) or leaving it until a lazy Sunday afternoon to give everyone enough time to nurse their hangovers but with enough alcohol in their systems to like even the most senseless of updates.
There’s a time and a place for everything, but even there comes a point when you need some ‘time out’.
