I honestly didn’t have a facebook until my sophomore year in college. I was sitting in my dorm room at my old junior college, and one of my roommates asked to use my computer because his computer kept freezing up. Of course I wasn’t going to say no so I let him use it and when he got online he went to facebook. Now being from a big city I was shocked to see this guy from a small town knew more about websites online than myself. Obviously I was very curious as to what this new website was, not knowing its been going on for quite some time, and so I asked him how do I sign up. He told me all I needed was a picture and I had to sign up through college, because at that time facebook wouldn’t allow anyone to sign up without being a student of some type of junior college, college, or university. After that night I have been an avid fan of facebook and for various reasons but the most important one is, people can see you from all over the place and only pass judgment on what you reveal and distort to them.
On facebook anyone who knows me, can come to the very first conclusion about my self-presentation that I play basketball. It is very obvious from all the pictures that I have posted under my photos category and all the good games last night posted on my wall as well. I like presenting myself as a basketball player because back home, if you made it as an athlete to the next level in any sport, you are very well respected. Here in Corvallis there is a face that athletes don’t necessarily put on but I would like to assume that majority of the students feel this way. The face is the I’m better than you because I’m a scholarship athlete face. Although it is a stereotype, when I first got here, I was told that this is the face that most basketball players, football players, and baseball players are categorized in. For a second it did make me think about if I wanted to put pictures of myself in a basketball uniform on my facebook page or if I should distort that facet of my life and let someone view me without the knowledge of me playing a sport, but then I realized that I maybe an athlete but I am not your stereotypical athlete.
Being an athlete is probably my most revealed subject on facebook but my most distorted and best kept secret would have to be music. I don’t show any interest in music or my musical talents’ but in all actuality I’m a pretty good singer. For most of my childhood I sung in the church choir and I was always one of the lead singers with this other girl named Erika. Though I stopped singing in the church choir after I began middle school, I still possessed so much love for singing that I sung in two talent shows at my high school. Music has been a great outlet for me to just let out any anger, frustration, or even happiness on any given day. This is not a talent that I’m happy to say I keep distorted from my life on facebook but I’m the type of person that doesn’t like to reveal all my secrets and likes and dislikes, because then you wouldn’t want to get to know me because you wold already think you know everything about me.
January 28, 2009 at 6:23 am
Congratulations on your achievements in basketball!! My two young daughters play it and I enjoy it. My husband is like you where he is an avid fan of basketball (and football and baseball….basically if it ends in ball he likes it!! LOL). I think it is great you represent yourself as who you really are because not many do.
As for the singing, kudos to you!! I am a chicken and won’t even sing in front of my husband.
January 29, 2009 at 9:47 pm
Hi Rickey!
Sometimes it can be very suprising to see who uses facebook/Myspace and who doesn’t. I was using the address book application to find family members, and I discovered that my Aunt, of all people, uses Myspace. Meanwhile, one of my business clients–much younger, I might add–has sent me very confused or panicked emails concerning how to work his facebook profile.
February 6, 2009 at 3:44 pm
Ricky,
I can relate to your email when you said that you sister called you asking why you would do that. When I wrote my brother a letter he called me and asked why would I do something like that. After a while when you tell them why you are thankful for the things they have done instead of wondering why you thanked them through email or a letter sent them. For me, my brother seemed to be more thankful that I sent him a letter rather than just calling him and telling him.