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We are all guilty of it. Several years ago I posted photos of myself as the world traveler, always doing fun things with interesting people, while selflessly advocating for Black people and literature. While that is is actually part of who I am, it is not a complete picture of myself. In fact, it was even a picture of myself I particularly care for... because "Facebook Troy" never struggled (unless it was for others) or made a bad decision. He wasn't human. Of course, there is Facebook's manipulation which is what actually motives us to contribute. I despise this aspect of Facebook, so I just opted out using Facebook for sharing personal stuff and only use it for sharing links back to AALBC.com. @Cynique, you hit on exactly how Facebook manipulates us: “…as I dutifully "like" what my relatives and friends say, even if I don't agree with or couldn't care less about what they have posted.” I've done exactly the same thing, and all this does is feed the monster that is making Facebook rich at our expense. As we “Like” the things we don't really like, we encourage people to share even more because of the ego boost the get from receiving likes. People feed off of these likes, and we might even feel bad or guilty if we don't click the like buttons ourselves. The only reason I care about any of this is that as people spend more and more time on Facebook the rest of the internet is crumbling around us. News sites are struggling, as fake news goes viral on Facebook. As far as content important to Black people goes, I've already beat that horse to death... Sadly, trying to explain any of this to most people is people is a waste of time...

This above paragraph was so on the mark and so full of insight that it bears repeating. It describes most of the people I interact with on social media to a "T" and since the shoe also fits me, I am wearing it. I confess to putting my best foot forward on FaceBook, posting happy pictures and basking in the "likes" my little-mini-editorials and witty snippets receive, as I dutifully "like" what my relatives and friends say, even if I don't agree with or couldn't care less about what they have posted - and this includes my granddaughter who spams her wall with daily pictures of her baby, and my oldest son whose favorite subject is himself, and the Jesus freaks relentlessly soliciting prayers and ":amens"! Enough, already! I have also subjected my FaceBook friends to "Throwback Thursday" pictures of me during the hey day of my youth, and I duly alert them to the news that I will be venturing out into the night to view any extraordinary celestial phenomena appearing the sky. Yawn. My true self emerges, however, when I take on my troll persona and argue with and insult and deflate strangers obnoxiously comfortable and confident in their skewed views. (People like the infamous "sarah" who polluted this forum with her goal to make us over in her image.) Then, there are the new friends and old acquaintances with whom I have bonded, and am on the same page with, or who are intellectually stimulating even I don't agree with them. They make it all worthwhile. And what is the "take-away" from this self-absorbed rambling? FaceBook, is, indeed, the demograph for my brand, which is "Confetti". I flutter all over the place.