HOWEVER, am I alone in wondering how tasteful/considerate it is to broadcast your acceptance news IN ALL CAPS ON YOUR FACEBOOK WALL???!!!! seriously. I can't make up my mind on how I feel about this. I love knowing how my friends and colleagues are doing. I love going to their shows - more often than my significant other would like, in fact. But is it a little insensitive to use social media this way? Especially for things that you know lots of your other colleagues probably got rejection letters from?
Should we not care? Should we proudly claim our accomplishments and know that our true friends and supporters will be thrilled and that everyone else will get over it or unfriend us? Is there a happy medium? Is there a tasteful, humble, grateful way to acknowledge one's hard-earned success? Is there a backlash for people who do this kind of thing? I know I tend to think that people who are constantly BROADCASTING THEIR SUCESS!!!! don't need any more gigs and so aren't the first on my list to call. Am I an inadvertent hater/....bad colleague? (dun dun DUNNNNNNN!!!)
I think in this age of social media, this is applicable to many non-music related events: getting into a prestigious college, or job, country club, I dunno. Should we care that people, maybe people we know/are friends with, got rejected for that same position? Not all of us can have newsletters - maybe we should, but let's face it, we don't. I kindof think that an email list would be a more effective way to be nice, but perhaps not the best advertising for your accomplishments. Hmmmmmmmmmmmm, what are the other options?
- Post a more formal announcement "I am proud to announce that I ________" and leave it at that.
- reserve these ecstatic posts for your musician/band Facebook page, website, email list, etc.
- post a formal press release/flyer/announcement from the company that has your name on it - that way they're doing the bragging for you, right?
- leave the ecstatic bragging for your mom/significant other, because you know they'll be posting it everywhere.
Actors, musicians, competitive performers/athletes of any kind, I'd love to know your thoughts. Do we proudly and loudly gush about our achievements, or tone it down a notch to spare others' feelings.
Should we not care? Should we proudly claim our accomplishments and know that our true friends and supporters will be thrilled and that everyone else will get over it or unfriend us? Is there a happy medium? Is there a tasteful, humble, grateful way to acknowledge one's hard-earned success? Is there a backlash for people who do this kind of thing? I know I tend to think that people who are constantly BROADCASTING THEIR SUCESS!!!! don't need any more gigs and so aren't the first on my list to call. Am I an inadvertent hater/....bad colleague? (dun dun DUNNNNNNN!!!)
I think in this age of social media, this is applicable to many non-music related events: getting into a prestigious college, or job, country club, I dunno. Should we care that people, maybe people we know/are friends with, got rejected for that same position? Not all of us can have newsletters - maybe we should, but let's face it, we don't. I kindof think that an email list would be a more effective way to be nice, but perhaps not the best advertising for your accomplishments. Hmmmmmmmmmmmm, what are the other options?
- Post a more formal announcement "I am proud to announce that I ________" and leave it at that.
- reserve these ecstatic posts for your musician/band Facebook page, website, email list, etc.
- post a formal press release/flyer/announcement from the company that has your name on it - that way they're doing the bragging for you, right?
- leave the ecstatic bragging for your mom/significant other, because you know they'll be posting it everywhere.
Actors, musicians, competitive performers/athletes of any kind, I'd love to know your thoughts. Do we proudly and loudly gush about our achievements, or tone it down a notch to spare others' feelings.
I don't know. It seems that if you've been posting for months about how hard you are working on something, it is only fair to let everyone know that you were blessed with a success. If someone can't share their good news with you without worrying that you're gonna be jealous/unsupportive/etc, maybe you're not really a friend to that person. I think your solution is to unfriend anyone whom you're not happy to hear this kind of news from.
ReplyDeleteWhose feelings are you trying to spare? I don't think you ever serve the world by shrinking from your success. (Congratulations by the way!) Unfortunately, we live in a world where self-hatred and denigration is accepted and encouraged. Be proud so that others may be inspired by your self love. Those who are interested in what you are doing will choose to tune in, others may opt out. And those that want to criticize you for putting yourself out there are throwing their energy in the wrong direction and should be ignored.
ReplyDeleteI'm with you.
ReplyDeleteAnd this is going to be some perspective from the wonderful world of Hollywood:
NEWSFLASH EVERYBODY: it's a competitive business. AND YOU WILL BE considered an a**hole if you keep (and here's the keyword KEEP - on a regular basis) posting about your AWESOME meeting you had with this agent at CAA, or how your meeting with the Fox exec went so well... I mean what's ironic is that most people who post about things like that, posts ALL THE TIME... and you know what nothing really ever happens? I knew someone who for some reason had the great desire to ALWAYS text me where they were, ONLY when it was somewhere special aka "oh yeah i was at disney for a meeting, no big deal".
I have an entire list of examples that will make you cringe. I say you need to tone it down, you are not TMZ. There are people that are doing well and being reserved about it... why cant you be like that? Once in a while is okay, when its a big achievement. Not every other facebook post.
I think you are making a fool out of yourself by constantly promoting yourself like that. What are you trying to do? Get people's approval? Probably I guess. But the truth is that it will keep happening. People want the others who have failed to know they are doing BETTER. That's human-hollywood-nature.
Thanks so much to everyone who posted! I everyone's comments were so thoughtful and well expressed. I agree that self-promotion is essential, and using facebook to promote your success is smart and effective. However, I think we should just all be more mindful about what we post and the way we post it - everything reflects back on you, so if you feel like shouting it from the rooftops, call your mom, jump up and down with your roommates and then write out a more tasteful announcement to post on facebook.
ReplyDelete