Once upon a time there was a social media person (SMP) who enjoyed socializing on Facebook and Twitter. SMP connected with people all around the Net. Some connections were for fun. Some for conversation. And, some to demonstrate SMP’s social media skills that would hopefully lead to a business connection.
SMP seemed to have a sunny disposition, be knowledgeable, and a friend base that increased. SMP had likeability.
One afternoon a conversation took place about whether to friend or unfriend someone based on whether or not the person was using a personal picture of himself on his Facebook profile. The viewpoint being an individual is on a social site to be social and should use their picture rather than a graphic image, a picture of their child or pet, or any other picture that’s not of them. To me, this seemed like a silly reason to unfriend someone so I watched the thread to see how others weighed in.
As the comments came in it surprised me how many agreed. Some stated that they too would begin unfriending. Ut-oh, now the SMP was becoming an influencer . . . . and in my opinion, in a negative way.
I doubt anyone in the conversation would consider himself a conscious profiler or being unjustly bias. I also doubt the dirty word ‘discrimination’ even skimmed the peripherals. I found it interesting that I was witnessing social profiling – discriminating someone based solely on their lack of use of a personal photo.
I can understand weeding through connections to match interests and guiding someone you may not know as well towards a business page but basing the decision on a picture seems silly, judgmental, and harsh. I waited for the conversation to discuss the compatibility of shared interests with various friend connections but that didn’t happen.
Few seemed to consider:
- those who feel uncomfortable with their self portrait.
- those who don’t have the knowledge of how to upload an image. (It’s true. Not everyone is tech savvy but may enjoy having conversations.)
- those whose personality includes expressing themselves with favorite graphics or showcasing their family and pets as their mood dictates.
- those not having a digital camera . . . to name just a few reasons why someone may not use a picture of him/herself.
I think the moral of this story is you never know who is an influencer or networking connector personality based solely on a personal picture. By removing the friend the SMP (and those who followed SMP’s lead) may have eliminated someone who could use a future service or refer a prospective customer to their business and they may have ended a budding friendship with their next best buddy. Seems like a big risk to take based only on the-picture-of-the-day. It doesn’t mean never slim down a friends list but consider a less superficial way. And, ask yourself, ‘Is it ever necessary to publicly announce why an individual is being deleted from your connections?’