An Open Letter to the Person Sharing Intimate Life Details on Facebook EVERYDAY

Dear Karen, Sharon, Deb or Greg, 

 As much as we enjoy hearing about how your child is sick for the third time this week, your favorite spaghetti sauce was not at Kroger today, your man cheated on you again and your toe fungus just won’t go away, we actually didn’t enjoy it at all. 

Sincerely, 

All of your Facebook Friends 

Not to be cold, but when Facebook friends share these types of obscure life details, it brings up an interesting question. Why did they feel the need for everyone they’ve known for the past 10 years to know these intimate updates that others would simply share while shooting the breeze with a close friend or family member? Or even worse – are you the Karen in this situation? Are you actively sharing every moment of your day with 1,000 of your ‘closest friends’?

To be completely honest, generally speaking, these types of posts appear as a social cry for help. If you need your old high school gym teacher to weigh in on your love life, you may need a closer circle of friends. And then, there are the attention seekers – the ones who already have all the friends they’ll ever need, but simply need people to know about their every moment to feel important. Even the most confident people can get wrapped up in the social media endorphins of a few more likes and comments, but we all have to check our motivations from time to time. Finally, there are the ones that simply don’t understand the culture of Facebook and what is appropriate. Think this might be you? Ask a friend to give their honest opinion about what you post. 

Take a hard look in the mirror and decide if you are in fact, a Karen. It’s okay – no judgement here. We just ask that you acknowledge your problem and make changes moving forward.