I sometimes post photos of books I really liked on my facebook. I've been told this is off-putting to some people. ?

Pretty much everything on my FB feed pertains to hobbies and professional interests that I don't really care about. I have never once thought that any of my friends should stop posting because I don't share their particular interest. Mostly, I'm just glad to see that my friends are getting enjoyment out of something.

Why would anyone care? If someone isn't a reader or doesn't care about the particular book you're posting about, they can just keep scrolling.

I stated how much I read to illustrate how big a part of my life it is, and I always try to use precise language, but you're not alone in thinking it betrays my supposed ulterior motives. For example, years back some people at work asked me what I was doing for the 4th of July, and I told them I was running in the big 10k road race we had there (along with some other things). When they asked me how I did, I said something like, "It went very well. I won by 61 seconds." One person joked with me that by saying "61 seconds" I was way too wrapped up in how great I am, which I found odd since it was an objective statement and not something I said any more about than that.

I've always had a pretty formal way of writing and speaking. I would never write anything the way you did, not because I'm pretentious but just because it's not me. I appreciate the input regardless.

OP, this is an odd and pretentious thing to do. But the problem isn't your pretentiousness - it's that you overly crave the approval of others. I say embrace your inner bibliophilic swagger. Damn what anybody else thinks. Perhaps you could mix things up with a dramatic reading once a week, say on Sunday afternoon, over a steaming cup of Darjeeling.

Are we really supposed to believe that someone who frequents Facebook and LRC reads at higher than a second grade level?

Keep posting. You should not adjust your life based on the opinions of people who are upset by the sight of a non-fiction book.

Did Galileo stop posting on Facebook when the Catholic church threatened to disembowel him? Hell no! Instead he was all "...then why are planets in the same plane as the earth but NOT orbiting around the earth??" And the Pope totally thumbsed down that post with an emoji of boiling oil, and Galileo was like "...do you even understand gravity?? Hint: it's not when all the shopping carts at the store parking lot end up surrounding your stupid Lincoln Navigator."

Smells Rotten wrote:

Are we really supposed to believe that someone who frequents Facebook and LRC reads at higher than a second grade level?

I love Dragons Love Tacos. Well, the pictures mostly.

Good grief. Reading books is not pretentious. What a time to be alive.

Not Pretentious wrote:

When they asked me how I did, I said something like, "It went very well. I won by 61 seconds."

There you go again!

You recognize that your friend group uses a less formal register on Facebook, but don't adopt it because it wouldn't feel natural to you. That's fine, just be aware of how it comes across -- pretentious and out-of-touch.

You might mitigate this impression by keeping your posts concise.

Do what you enjoy. After all, it's only Facebook. Most social media posts could be seen as pretentious anyways...Oh, so that's the new expensive house you bought? Oh, so that's what you looked like every day for the past month? There's an assumption that drives most people to post on social media, that being that others truly care about what they do/have to say. Kinda pretentious in and of itself. Though if this is something you (emphasis on "you") would like to continue doing, I'd certainly recommend checking out Goodreads (as has previously been stated), it's a fantastic site.

I live in Colorado and used to post pictures of beautiful places on FB. But I had some complaints from friends who implied I was bragging how beautiful it is and it makes them feel bad because where they live isn't as beautiful. I happen to believe there is beauty to be found almost anywhere and if I lived in Drabtown I could still post pretty pictures.

But I stopped posting pictures.

I sometimes post videos of my farts to social media, i've been told its off putting to some people

Keep Reading wrote:

Good grief. Reading books is not pretentious. What a time to be alive.

True. I would argue Facebook is a net negative on society. It makes us tap into our desire for vanity. It strokes our ego. Makes us obsess about ourselves, and envy others. Facebook claims that they can "bring the world together" but really they just want money and they want to jerk themselves off knowing that they stumbled upon a tool which is able to make people flock to it like flies. They created a tool which exploits one of the saddest parts of human nature: the ego and the need to feel important.

Studies have shown that people are LESS compassionate when using social media if they see a post about an earthquake for example. They forget in about 30 seconds and they become apathetic.

Facebook sends little shits if dopamine everytime we see a like on our posts.

I could go on, but facebook is a net evil. Do you agree?

If these degenerates think that you are pretentious because you share your love of reading on FB, unfriend them and leave them to their Cheetos and basement video games.

Or, you can read a few pages of James Joyce "Ulysses", which will eliminate your desire to read a book for a good long while.