What Does a Facebook Movie Say About Your Life?

I am always pondering questions about self-expression and how people choose to share themselves with the world and with their circles.  Much has been written about the differences between extroverts and introverts.  Susan Cain's book, Quiet, The Power of Introverts in a World that Can't Stop Talking, is a wonderful book on this topic.  A very visible way that we see how much people want to share their stories, their ideas, their journeys is on today's social media sites.

So, today while the snow swirled outside and I hunkered down for a glorious snow day, between emails and meetings, I have been captivated by the Facebook Movies that have been coming through my Facebook newsfeed.  What a simple idea and what a great way to celebrate Facebook's 10 years.

I once wrote a post about what a Facebook birthday says about your life and today I reflect on what a Facebook Movie says about your life.  To be clear,  this snippet of images shown in about a minute may have very little to do with the real fabric of your life, unless you have chosen to share it on Facebook.  But it's a proxy.  It's a signal of what your network of friends choose to share.  What are the share-worthy moments and what compels us to put them out there?

Of course, we all know that many folks cannot resist sharing photos of babies and dogs.   As a complete sucker for both, I am always happy to see those sweet faces coming through my feed.  As someone who long ago hung up the diaper bag, I find myself often consumed with pangs for those sweet, sensual early days of motherhood.  Since I have also sadly hung up the dog leash, at least for now, I look longingly at wonderful pictures and images of dogs of every size and shape and dream of the day when I will have another devoted companion.

But today I reflect on more than that.  I reflect on the values that come through these movies.   There are  friends who share nothing but pictures of their spouses or their families.  There are the friends who are shameless self-promoters, who promote every achievement, book published, play they've been cast in, award they have been given.   Sure, why not?  It's a great place to do it and is undoubtedly why so many of my most active Facebook friends are theatre people.  Who doesn't want to spread the good word about our good work? And truly, nothing makes me happier than celebrating with these friends, their achievements and their great moments on stage.

One can learn a lot about what people value by the images they share.  Are they often surrounded by large groups of family and friends?  Are they sharing glorious photographs of beautiful outdoor spaces or settings?  Are they doers?  Are they thinkers?  Are they creators?  What are they passionate about?  The Red Sox?  Politics?  Fashion? The issues they champion?  Are they grabbing their life by the horns and living it or are they settling back and just savoring it?  Are they sentimental or are they serious?  Are they adventurers or just plain fun-loving? What a kick to have a peek into so many people's interesting lives. So today I celebrate the full and rich lives that so many of us have.. A happy snow day indeed.