Profile pictures

In case you haven't noticed, I never change my Facebook profile picture to the latest movement, which most recently was the pink equal sign on a red background. Now, before you jump to conclusions (and really, if you know me, it shouldn't be of any surprise), I long ago decided that my profile picture would always be me and just me. That's right, you won't see a profile picture on my page of any movement, team, cartoon, or even a group shot. Why? Well, I want people to know it's me they're looking for when they find my profile, not have to guess who I am based on a symbol or which person I am in a given group picture. So yes, you can always count on my Facebook profile picture (or any profile I have) to be of me and no one else. To each his or her own, but that's how I do it.

I definitely have considered it, so I was very happy Facebook introduced the "cover photo" option. That way I can put a group shot up or use a picture from an interest while still having my profile picture of me. I have put cover photos of my family, the Titanic, Kent, my sports teams, patriotism, etc. I typically stay away from movements or causes, though, because first, I see personal opinion things like that as very private, and second, they tend to just be lightning rods for debate, often between my "friends" who don't necessarily know each other. I'm happy to discuss my opinions one-on-one or here on the blog where I can really explain what I feel and why. Facebook tends to not be a place where we can go into greater detail. I mean, honestly, how many of us see a long post and skip over it? How many of you have done that on some of my long posts? Bottom line is, the people that really want to know will come read the blog or message me. Most of my Facebook friends are people I know in real life and many of them know me pretty well. I want Facebook to be something I enjoy checking once in awhile, not something I dread because I have to sit down and respond to a bunch of comments about this or that (especially negative comments).

I used to be very expressive on Facebook about anything, but over time I have moved away from posting or even commenting on most things political or otherwise controversial. In the end, I found I didn't enjoy getting on Facebook to find out if anyone responded and half the time, the responses were from people I didn't know or care about in any way, or people just took what I said completely out of context or applied a tone of voice in their heads that was never there. I was also disappointed when I noticed some "friends" would drop me because of a disagreement. I always try to disagree civilly and respectfully. Apparently, though, I have had Facebook friends that would rather not associate with me simply because we see a certain issue (or issues) differently. Whatever. That's their choice. I still use Facebook to express opinions here and there or just to vent, and recognize when others are using it for similar purposes. Hey, in the end, if you don't like what someone posts regularly, either end the "relationship" or just filter out their posts. I just find it somewhat ironic when people complain about others using Facebook to...well...complain. I tend to just filter out posts if I find I don't enjoy reading them (like overly political, constantly negative, inappropriate or tasteless, or endless random pictures), rather than deleting the connection.