After discussing our Facebook newsfeeds in class, it struck me that I use Facebook very differently today from when I first joined the site.  In 9th grade, everything was about posting Facebook statuses.  I have an app on my phone that shows me what I posted X years ago from today on Facebook and Twitter, and it constantly reminds me of how ridiculous I was as a freshman in high school.  I literally posted: “crew tomorrow then WKND!!!” as a Facebook status in 2009.  It’s embarrassing to think that I actually put that on a profile with my name on it.  But everyone was doing it.  In 2009, Facebook was more of a Twitter environment — people posted song lyrics, random thoughts, and announcements as status updates.

These days if someone posted song lyrics or an irrelevant thought as a status update, I would be more likely than not to unfriend them.  It’s just not something that people do anymore.  I’ve realized that I use Facebook mostly as a form of communication for people who I don’t text/call regularly, to post photos I’ve taken, or to make that first connection with someone I meet.  Facebook is great for, as an example, friending people that you meet in the first week of college.  Since we’re meeting so many people, it’s nice to be able to go back to your room and put a face to a name when you look at their profile picture.  Beyond that, though, I don’t really use the main functions of Facebook.  I no longer look at my newsfeed for more than a minute or two, and I don’t really see what goes on unless a friend directs me to go like a certain photo or post.  Of course, I still go to my hometown friends’ profiles to see what they’ve been up to, but that is a much smaller window of Facebook.  If I want to find information about celebrities, the latest news stories, or even just catch up with my friends, I now usually turn to Twitter.  Or I just go the old fashioned way and pull out my phone to call someone.

I am from rural Colorado. Naturally, I love country music. I love it because it is extremely honest and upbeat (For the most part. “Red Solo Cup” by Toby Keith should be erased from human existence). For example, last week I was in the Library trying to write a reading response for DML. I was extremely unmotivated. I was about four sentences and stuck in a writer’s block, when suddenly the song “5-1-5-0″ by Dierks Bentley came on and I got pumped. Suddenly, my fingers were gliding across the keyboard. I got a “strong” on this particular reading response. So… boom.

However, last night, I was listening to the country music station on Spotify when a song called “The Trouble With Girls” by Scott McCreery came on. This song had a nice melody and I liked it from the get-go. Then, I started to listen to the lyrics closely and I really related to them. I started to think about a girlfriend I had in high school and nice she was and the way she acted. This song was sad, but relatable. It really tugged at my heartstrings. I nearly cried right there at my desk in the library. I had to get up from my work and take a lap around the stacks to refocus myself. Country music – It’ll make you smile and make you cry in the same song.

-Murph