“what are you up to these days? how is everything going?”
What does that even mean? Really? Like, how is EVERYTHING going? Well, let me think, do you have all day to sit down and listen to me tell you? Would you like for me to re-write my daily blog in an email? Do you even really wanna know?
Could you not just have looked at my profile on any zillion social networks and seen where I work or that I recently uploaded photos and went to a party or two. Facebook makes it so easy for old friends acquaintances to see what you’ve been up to. So, why do people ask such general and impersonal questions?
If you’re my friend on FB you’ll be used to seeing my little square face in your news feed with photos, blog posts and status updates. IF we’re friends, (emphasis on the IF) it’s pretty easy to see what someone’s been up to. I always check a friends profile before I message them, that’s what Facebook is for! Duh.
So, when and old friend asks “what are you up to these days? how’s everything going?” I think to myself, we must not be friends and you probably don’t care.
Urgh, rant much? if you ever wanna ask me something crazy, fun or just plain outta this world go right ahead.
Happy Day 🙂
Originally posted January 2010
I can't help but laugh when people I haven't seen in a while ask me what I've been up to. Well, I guess you don't read my blog! Um… where do I even dive in?
And then I get to “Fuck you! if you were worth answering the question to, you'd already know!” You put it better.
My point exactly. I figure, if you really cared you'd have trolled my profile and seen the daily updates on a site I write called “this is my life”. Urgh.
It's such a dated question in this day and age. I'm consciously putting myself out there to the world so people know what I'm doing and to have someone ask that is almost strange. You can Google my name and get a history of my life, or have a look at my blog, or any of the other sites I'm on. It's especially ridiculous when someone sends a FB message asking that.
Thank you.
That is all.
xo~
Small talk in general is the absence of fun. There's nothing like a family holiday where everyone asks the obligatory “So, what are you up to these days?” If you're like me, you just get piercings and tell them you're hooking down on Hennepin Avenue. At least then they take a genuine interest in your life, whether it's made up or not.
Plus, at the next family gathering you get to savor the response when everyone asks, “So, how's our favorite prostitute?”
Haha amazing. Excusable if you don't use internet, ever but otherwise, its just the dumbest thing.
i think it’s a perfectly valid question if you haven’t seen someone in a decent amount of time and aren’t the type to read people’s personal blogs on a daily basis. personally i have over 1200 friends on facebook, so it’s a bit hard to keep track of what every single one of them is doing. everyone has their closer friends that they have the know on, but i keep the “what have you been up to?” to people who i genuinely want to know what they’ve been up to since i’d rather have them tell me themselves and start up a possible conversation, then go through their facebook updates and be weirdly impersonal about new events in their life…because who knows when you’re going to run into someone?
not reading someone’s blog or facebook every day isn’t something anyone should take offense to…i think that’s horribly pretentious.
before the internet, not calling everyone you know EVERY DAY asking what they’re doing is perfectly normal behaviour.
i hear ya. i don’t expect everyone to read my stuff every day. such a vague question is annoying though 🙂
i agree there are limits – though the worst is the ever-feared “how are you?” ….AUGH. haha
I usually reserve one or two quick sentences to fire off to that Q. Really, such a general question is just a less dorky way of saying, “tell me the 2 or 3 most significant features of your life lately so that I know something about you that’s more up to date than highschool.” Who knows– you may have something new in common.
However I get that the question can be overwhelming for someone with a super-active roster.