A friend of mine recently felt the need to clarify her choice of Facebook profile image in a status update. She was worried her photo choice would be misconstrued as supporting, or not supporting, a current group and cause. The need for her to justify this caused me to wonder…
When did our personal choice of Facebook profile image become so important?
For me, I spend little time thinking about that picture. If my teenagers decide to be cool one day and take a selfie with Mom, I load it up proudly because when there’s a break in the hormone-riddled mood in our household, you better believe I document it. If that same image remains for months at a time, I’m either busy enjoying the moments and forgetting to document or those same teenagers have taken over and you should send help.
If I put an image of one kid on my profile more than the other, does that mean the overexposed kid is my favorite? No. It simply means one of my kids is a pain when it comes to pictures. I choose my favorites each day based on who does their chores without me asking or who says they like the dinner I cooked, thank you very much.
Not once have I changed my image with a frame that dons my college team, a particular social issue, or shows support of a state or country hit by natural disaster. Does that mean I don’t care? Not one bit. I love my Gators, care deeply about the dividing issues plaguing our country, and pray for those who’ve lost everything. Honestly? I don’t know how to add those frames or how to overlay my pic with hashtags because I’m slightly clueless and still trying to determine the difference between an Instagram post and an Instagram story. (The old lady struggle is real.) Also, it’s simply not a way I choose to take a stand on something big or small.
My point is this. You can no more judge who I am and what I believe from my lack of supportive Facebook images than you can from the foods I love (cheeseburgers and donuts, for the record). For example, my current profile photo is of me holding a medal after competing in a workout challenge I’d set a goal to finish. One might assume I’m athletic after seeing that image. One would be massively wrong (see cheeseburgers and donuts comment above). Also, I can’t possibly know everything you care about or the depth of your beliefs if you choose to put snippets of that on your image.
How we really get to know people, their beliefs, and what they are passionate about is through meaningful conversation. If that meaningful conversation is between people who come from different backgrounds and beliefs, all the better. Even further, if that conversation spurs action from two people who feel differently but still decide to find common ground to influence change, well, that’s the holy grail people!
For those of you who continue to change your profile image in support of the moment, more power to you! If you stick an “I Stand” on your image, I promise not to assume that you don’t support change in racial inequalities in our country, if you promise not to assume I’m apathetic toward the people in Puerto Rico if I don’t add, “Pray for Puerto Rico” on mine. After all, we are all more than just a Facebook image.
