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Why do girls sugar-coat each other's facebook pictures?

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Original post by ZSuperSaiyan
so beautiful xoxo!

ahh why u so pretty babe not fair >:frown:

cute! xx

luv uuu! <3



Seriously.... what is the point of this? Do you girls not realise the blatant meaningless words being spat out at you and your pictures? How does one see the superficial sugar coating of a compliment and yet still be validated by it?


Reciprocal validation me thinks. :tongue:
The longing for sweetness and sugar-coating is a cognitive self-defence mechanism characterised by withdrawal from the real world of cold, harsh patriarchy.
I find it really insincere. Maybe a lot of people feel they have to do those type of comments because they know the poster is seeking attention and perhaps the commenter is looking for compliments in return.
Original post by Yeah dude
Because they're just havin fun they don't care who sees

So what they go out, that's how it's supposed to beee

Livin young and wild and free


I don't know whether spending half your evening trying to pose just right in some ridiculous contrived position so that the photos for facebook come out correctly really counts as ''young wild and free'' to me, but then, each to their own.

Original post by Cadherin

Funnily enough, you never see girls making a probably correct comment of 'Jesus, you look as if a child went down the make-up section of Boots, smeared it all over your face making it resemble a clay coating, then decided to show a duck-face and expose as much of your horrible, saggy breasts as possible, you attention-seeking whore'.


Excellent :wink: - and your first paragraph about insecurity (sorry I've cocked up the quoting) was bang on. It's insecurity + a platform for public narcissism. A recipe for a massive attention seeking scatterbomb.

I think Facebook is such a platform. Open the floodgates, and watch the desperation and insincerity come rolling in.
Reply 24
Original post by Yeah dude
Because they're just havin fun they don't care who sees

So what they go out, that's how it's supposed to beee

Livin young and wild and free


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Original post by ZSuperSaiyan
so beautiful xoxo!

ahh why u so pretty babe not fair >:frown:

cute! xx

luv uuu! <3



Seriously.... what is the point of this? Do you girls not realise the blatant meaningless words being spat out at you and your pictures? How does one see the superficial sugar coating of a compliment and yet still be validated by it?



Because they aren't happy are they? They are forcing themselves to throw up in a vain attempt to attract Gary the school heartthrob, and then overdosing on paracetamol when he inevitably rejects them
Reply 25
I simply don't comment on photos I don't like. I'll only ever comment if I genuinely feel said person looks good.
Original post by ZSuperSaiyan
so beautiful xoxo!

ahh why u so pretty babe not fair >:frown:

cute! xx

luv uuu! <3



Seriously.... what is the point of this? Do you girls not realise the blatant meaningless words being spat out at you and your pictures? How does one see the superficial sugar coating of a compliment and yet still be validated by it?


I think the reason is because, if they write comments like that on other people's photos, they hope to receive them back on their own. If they have lots of those comments on their own photos or on their page as a whole, it's supposed to give the impression to the wider public that they have lots of friends, and that they're generally thought of as very pretty - two things which are considered to be major determinants/indicators of social status amongst the female half of society.

(In fact it's even common for girls to actually ask each other "Can you 'like' my photo and comment on it so I don't look like a loser" immediately after uploading one, which shows just how much they want it.)

It may be that the "friends" writing those comments are people they aren't particularly close with or even dislike, but the other people looking at their profile (supposedly) don't realise that. It may also be that the girl isn't actually especially attractive. But if she's at least average, the comments may just make it occur to the guys reading them that she is a girl after all, whom they could start to think about in "that" way. Or, worst case scenario, if she's well below average, it's a way of suggesting to the people looking at the profile, "well everyone else thinks I'm pretty, so if you don't then it means there's something wrong with you, not me".

A lot of people probably see right through this, but it's become a bit of a self-fulfilling prophecy as well. Because so many girls do this, it has got to the point where the genuinely popular and attractive ones really will have vast numbers of these comments from the many people they know, hoping for the status symbol of receiving one back from them. So the comments do start to become a true indicator of status, which just makes girls crave them even more.
(edited 9 years ago)
When my Boo is looking good, she needs to be told. If her eyebrows are on point I'll tell her and if her hair is on fleek, I'll make it known.

:pierre:
They're not always meaningless. Also it's nice.

When I compliment my friends, they get happier. It doesn't matter if it's "meaningless" if they appreciate it
It's just a way of building social solidarity in friendship groups. Girls come at the world through friendship groups, which are just as often convenient alliances as genuine friendships. But either way they must periodically reaffirm the solidarity between them to each other and to the world at large.
Original post by perspiracious
The longing for sweetness and sugar-coating is a cognitive self-defence mechanism characterised by withdrawal from the real world of cold, harsh patriarchy.


You sure? I feel as if this kind of behaviour has only increased in recent decades, with the patriarchy weakening. (That is, of course, an assumption the 50's weren't like that or worse)


Original post by tazarooni89
I think the reason is because, if they write comments like that on other people's photos, they hope to receive them back on their own. If they have lots of those comments on their own photos or on their page as a whole, it's supposed to give the impression to the wider public that they have lots of friends, and that they're generally thought of as very pretty - two things which are considered to be major determinants/indicators of social status amongst the female half of society.


Great answer. I agree. Probably a status and mate attraction thing. Similar to males commenting "lads" on a photo of another male doing something fun to show they are a fun, cool character and attract females, but on criteria different to females'.
(edited 9 years ago)
So that the the girl in the photo does the same for them, and they do most of the time. Honestly, this is why I rarely ever upload a new profile picture on Facebook.
Hopefully some of them are just trying to be genuinely nice and supportive of their friends...
Yeah it's stupid and ****ing cringing but just get over it because teenage girls won't change
Original post by Arkasia
Because teenage girl friendship circles are the most incestuous, two-faced, self-serving collections of living creatures on the planet?


Original post by bittr n swt
Yeah it's stupid and ****ing cringing but just get over it because teenage girls won't change


What makes you think that we all do/are all like this? :colonhash:



:colonhash:

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Haha this made me laugh!!
Original post by karmacrunch
What makes you think that we all do/are all like this? :colonhash:



:colonhash:

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Because I have watched Mean Girls and the Most Popular Girls in School.

You know, documentaries full of 100% fact.
Original post by Arkasia
Because I have watched Mean Girls and the Most Popular Girls in School.

You know, documentaries full of 100% fact.


Mean Girls was so disappointing. :frown:

I don't get the point of your sarcasm? :K:

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Original post by karmacrunch
Mean Girls was so disappointing. :frown:

I don't get the point of your sarcasm? :K:

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Disappointing? It was great :frown:

My point is that there is no reply when someone says "not all X are like Y", other than either pointing out the original statement was purposefully homogenizing to make a point, or to just say something even more ludicrous. I went for the latter.
It could be because they expect you to do the same for them?? Example: Girl 1 posts a picture, Girl 2 'sugar coats' it and in return she expects Girl 1 to do the same for her pictures, in order to make her seem more popular I suppose..

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