The Learning Network: What Is Your Facebook Persona?

People use Facebook in different ways and for different purposes — to connect with friends, to post clever observations, to find and share ideas and resources found elsewhere, to help others. If you are on Facebook, how do you use it? How would you characterize your “persona” there?

In his Gadgetwise blog post “Should I Be a Jerk or a Human Being on Facebook?” Sam Grobart reflects on his Facebook personality, with respect to a time when an acquaintance from high school was reported missing, and he briefly questioned whether to post a notice about it on Facebook:

In general, I tend to use Facebook in a few circumscribed ways: to promote myself (“Check out my latest blog post!”), and to inform or entertain, preferably in a self-aggrandizing way that establishes myself as an Intelligent/Witty/Irreverent Person. And so amusing Web videos get posted, as do perceptive articles and infographics, not to mention pop-culture ephemera that solidifies my reputation as a playful (but with an edge!) raconteur.

(I just reread that. I think I might sound like an ass.)

But other people use Facebook differently, obviously. Some like to update others with the details and events of their daily lives. Others use it as a means of political expression. In this case, what I learned was that my second reaction was borne out of the Facebook persona I had created: I’m here to be funny and informative, not to help people. But because I haven’t lost the absolute entirety of my soul (yet), I had a reaction to that reaction because, in this case, there were actual stakes (someone had gone missing). And those stakes could not be higher, no matter how my online activity would be perceived.

Students: Tell us about how you use Facebook, if at all. How would you describe your Facebook persona? What are the main ways you use Facebook? Why? If someone in your network needed help, would you use your page to try to help? Why or why not?

Students 13 and older are invited to comment below. Please use only your first name. For privacy policy reasons, we will not publish student comments that include a last name.