Ask any of your friends around you and more then half of them I will bet are either on Facebook or have heard of Facebook. Like it or not Social Media is all around us, and Facebook is a powerful platform to connect and talk with one another. If you are like me you ignore most of the applications invitations that your friends send you, and rarely read or look at any of them when you get them delivered to your inbox.
Things I learned about myself on Facebook from frank gorton on Vimeo.
The other day I happened to take a look at my updates section and noticed I had a bunch of friends that had been adding or commenting on something called “25 things you did not know about me”. It actually caught my eye so I thought I would take a moment to read and see what people were writing. I have to admit it, but it was real interesting. I have friends on there that were writing more about themselves then I have ever heard them discuss or tell me in any social setting.
I think Social Media and Facebook have allowed people to learn more about themselves and share that information in a way that allows them to be more honest with themselves. Facebook is a social media platform and the way it is structure makes it viral. As you update information about yourself your friends can see what information is being published about you when they log in. This allows you to push information to them in a way that is less confrontational or embarrassing.
So I took a few minutes and published some of the information about myself that I filled out on my list below. The exercise was a lot of fun, and I got to tell people a bit more about myself then I have told them in other social settings. Later that evening I had a friend send me a message saying that they learned a number of things about me that they never knew prior to the list.
My 25 items
1. I was born in Harrogate, England, and moved to US when I was 3. My father was working for NSA and we were on an overseas assignment.
2. I have dual citizenship, United States and England.
3. I fell in love with my wife the first party I met her at college, and knew we would always be together. She makes me laugh, and has always believed in me. I think that kind of love and support is something you can never duplicate. I am a dreamer at heart and she accepts that and supports it.
4. I miss my mother, and wish she was around to have seen my marriage and kids, she would have loved both. She died of cancer 3 months before I got married.
5. I failed out of college once for drinking to much, and then had to come back home to finish school. Wish I did not fail out but would have not changed it for the world.
6. I am a Fraternity Guy (Pi Lambda Phi), and would never change that. I have meet some of my best friends from that group.
7.I feel as though I am too strict at times when I discipline my kids but do not want them growing up to be social misfits.
8. I converted to Judaism for my wedding, but really hate the entire idea of organized prayer.
9. I wish I spent more time with my father and sister to help re-establish the relationship we had before my mother passed away.
10. I have always wanted to learn to speak Italian.
11. I would love to have more kids if I could just start when they are age 2. I am not sure I can handle them anymore at the young age.
12. I taught my older son to moon when he was around 3. He later mooned my wife once, and it is one of my favorite stories.
13. I have always wanted to be an entrepreneur, and hate working for someone else.
14. I hate scary movies, never really liked them actually.
15. I went back to England when I was 13-16 and had a chance to see a lot of Europe, and attend a dormitory high school. I think my friendships with my friends back home were never the same when I got back.
16. I want to move and live someplace warm like California, or Florida, or maybe even an island in the Caribbean.
17. I miss the good old college days of drinking for no reason, just to have fun.
18. I have always loved my wife’s smile and laugh, especially when she laughs so hard she cries.
19. I hope that my boys have the same values I had growing up when it comes to family.
20. I hate control freaks, especially when they try and tell me what activities I need to do and how I need to do them. I grew up learning how to take care of things myself, and only needed 1 set of parents.
21. I wanted to be in the FBI when I went to college and ivestigate white collar crime.
22. I wish I stayed a developer, while management roles pay more, there are less working from home opportunities.
23. I only hope that I can be the best husband and father possible. I hope my family knows how much they mean to me. We have tried to dreate an enf=vironment where we all appreciate and love one another.
24. I grow bored of working the same job to easily.
25.I am ADDICTED to reality television.
It was a lot of fun and I would encourage you to do the same, or leave me a note about yourself below.
Be Well
Frank
