Pay attention to meeeeeee!
Baltimore Sun reporter Jill Rosen wrote a story for today's paper about the oversharing nature of Facebook, which you can read here.
The part that stuck out at me was this:
Stefanone, who studies social media, has found a direct link between people's propensity for intimacy in social networking and how much reality TV they watch.
People who watch a lot of reality shows, he's found, spend more time on Facebook, have more network friends, are more "promiscuous" in friending and more prolific in sharing photos of themselves.
"Average people are being cast on these shows and they're quasi-celebrities. They're giving interviews and confessionals, sharing who in North America they've slept with and who they hate," Stefanone says. "On Facebook, people can very easily enact that behavior. To be seen is to exist."
Uh-oh. Does that mean that all of us who watch reality TV are just big attention whores at heart? I mean, I think that everyone who appears on reality TV is, but watching? Well, who knows.
But hey, while we're on the subject, you can follow Reality Check on Twitter at http://twitter.com/realityck and you can become a fan of Reality Check on Facebook here.
Comments
Hee hee ... this post makes me laugh and cry a little. There are 25 reasons why I agree with this. Let me share them with the world ...
Personally, I don't watch reality TV. I've never seen even a whole episode of American Idol. And though The Sun encourages me to do social networking, I really don't care about Facebook and Twitter that much. But this idea makes so much sense.
Years ago, somebody asked Joe Strummer from the Clash if he could sum up his live performances in less than 5 words. His reply: "LOOK AT ME!"
SKK: If he'd had to Tweet it, he would have had 130 more characters to work with. I don't care if you write 25 reasons why you agree, but just don't tag me, mmmmkay?
Posted by: Sam Sessa | February 24, 2009 3:55 PM
For the record I watch A LOT of reality television (and trash television, too) and I have only six Facebook friends. Six is the limit.
Before I add any more, one of the current six has to be voted out.
Posted by: Bucky | February 24, 2009 5:49 PM
I don't think that everyone that watches reality TV is an attention whore, because lets face it, there aren't very many other good shows on right now other than realtiy shows.
But what does it say about those of us that blog/respond to blogs about reality shows? Does this mean that it's time for me to finally admit that I need to get a life? Or just that I need to find other things to do to keep busy at work?
SKK: Well, I like to think that analyzing the things that entertain you just means you are being thoughtful, and reality TV on the whole is a pretty insane phenomenon. But I'm probably not the most unbiased person on that particular front, ya know?
Posted by: Chris | February 25, 2009 9:01 AM